Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews 13. I'd like to read verses 10 through
13. We have an altar whereof they
have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the bodies
of those beasts whose blood is brought 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. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you this
evening for this blessed time to be able to assemble ourselves
together. And Lord, we thank you for your
presence We ask that that which is set forth might be honoring
unto you. Father, I pray would you bless
this message to the comfort of your people and for the calling
out of your elect. And these things we pray for
Christ's sake. Amen. The writer to the Hebrews is
speaking, obviously, to Jews. Now, to an unbelieving Jew, he
looked upon a regenerated Jew, One that was called out of spiritual
darkness. He looked at that believing Jew
as a rebel against God. That natural Jew, that one that
held to the keeping of the law and the tabernacle, he looked
at the believer as one that had left not just Judaism, but he
looked at one that had left God. He looked at that believing Jew,
one that didn't hold anymore to the traditions, as one that
now didn't have an altar, he didn't have a Lamb that was brought, sacrificed. He was an apostate. He had turned
his back on God. He had turned his back on the
God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And now, he had no priest,
he had no sacrifice, he had no hope. He left the God-ordained
ceremony But the writer to the Hebrews,
writing under the inspiration of God's Spirit, tells these
believers, we have an altar. Natural Jews said, you don't
have one, you've left. You've left the altar, you've
left the sacrifices, you've left everything. Paul says, we have
an altar. And this we know. Because verse
9, we looked at last time, the latter part, says that it's a
good thing that the heart be established with grace. Not with meats which have not
profited them that have been occupied therein. Paul said,
listen to me, we have an altar. We have an altar. We are not
established, the apostles said, before God through the visibles
of the law, but through these shadows and types, these Old
Testament ceremonies. Romans 14, 17 says, For the kingdom
of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, true righteousness,
not established through the keeping of these laws and rituals, but
a true righteousness imputed and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. Peace that has been truly established
by the Lord Jesus Christ before God. By the shedding of His own
blood. Now, our life is hidden in Christ. We struggle. We truly struggle. As I've said before, I know there's
two natures, but I'll tell you. I'll tell you the nature that
a believer is most aware of. His old nature. That's what he
sees. But there's a new man there.
And that new man believes God, and a believer knows he believes
God. That new nature loves God, and that believer knows he says
it's Peter. Lord, Thou knowest all things.
Thou knowest that I love Thee. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
altar, He is our sacrifice, and He is our priest. He's the altar
of God's providing. And we live upon Him by faith. Now, in the wilderness, their
altar was just a type. It was a shadow. It was a picture.
Our altar is the fulfillment of that type. And the scripture
says in verse 10, we have an altar whereof they have no right
to eat which serve the tabernacle. Now from that scripture, we realize
that as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we possess, we
have given unto us the right. They have no right to eat. There's
a sacrifice that I'm going to tell you about in just a second.
That they had no right to eat those that served the tabernacle. But obviously, we do. We have a right to eat of the
fulfillment of what they only had in type and in shadow Now,
the question would arise, what was that particular sacrifice
that the priest, the high priest, was forbidden to eat? Paul is talking about an altar
that we have that they have no right to eat of when they were
serving in the tabernacle and dealing with just the tithe.
But now the fulfillment of it, we do have the right to eat of
it. What was it? Well, it was the sin offering
that was offered on the Day of Atonement, and it was the sin
offering that was offered for the high priest himself. Now, I want you to turn with
me. We're going to look in the Old
Testament for a minute. I tell you, I love Leviticus
6. I love dealing and looking at
these Old Testament pictures and types and seeing Now that
we're looking at the types and the pictures and the shadows,
to recognize and to behold the fulfillment of it. Now, here's
what the Leviticus chapter 6 and verse 30, here was the law concerning
the sin offering that was offered On the Day of Atonement, and
I'll show you in just a minute, it was also the same law if that
sin offering was offered for just the priest. I'll show you
one in a minute that the priest back then could eat of, but this
is one they could not eat of. Leviticus 6, and no sin offering. whereof any of the blood is brought
into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile with all in the
holy place shall be eaten." It shall be burned in the fire. Now, there's a sin offering that's
being spoken of right there, and if that particular sin offering
was going to have the blood of that sin offering brought into
the holy place. That priest could not eat of
it. Now, there was a sin offering
with just that thought in mind right there. I'm going to give
you two comparisons right here, and I'm going to show you what
We absolutely possess by the glorious grace of God. There
was a sin offering that the priest could eat of. I want you to take
your Bibles and turn just back a page or two to Leviticus 6,
24-26. Leviticus 6, 24-26. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, saying, This is
the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt
offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before
the Lord, it is most holy. The priest that offereth it for
sin shall eat it in the holy place, shall it be eaten in the
court of the tabernacle of the congregation. Whatsoever shall
touch the flesh thereof shall be holy, and when there is sprinkled
of the blood thereof on any garment, thou shalt wash that whereof."
It was sprinkled in the holy place. Now, that sin offering,
it said that the priest could eat it. It could eat it. Now, which one was that? Leviticus 4, 27-29. Very, very
important. Leviticus 4, 27-29. The scripture says, Any one of the common people. Now, by margin, you may have
a margin there. It's just talking about the people
of the land. The people that were not priests. The Israelites. The people. The whole group. If any one of the common people
sin through ignorance while he doeth somewhat against any of
the commandments of the law concerning things which ought not to be
done and be guilty, or if his sin which he hath sinned come
to his knowledge, then he shall bring his offering, a kid of
the goats, a female, without blemish, for his sin which he
hath sinned. And he shall lay his hand upon
the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in
the place of the burnt offering." Now let me tell you what is being
said right here. There was an offering that could
not be eaten. If the blood of the sin offering
that was offered before the Lord was taken, if that blood was
taken, into the holy place. Or on the day of atonement, into
the holy of holies. But if it was taken into the
holy place, and if that blood was taken into that holy place
to make reconciliation, that animal that was sacrificed could
not be eaten. Let me remind you what a sin
offering was. He had a trespass offering and
a sin offering. Trespass offering was offered
for what we do. A sin offering was offered for
what we are. If the sin offering was offered
for one of the common people, That blood was not brought into
the holy place. That blood was dealt with totally
outside in the court. Then that priest could eat of
that offering. He could eat. That's what was
dealt with when we look at Leviticus 6, 24. If he comes, he takes,
he slays it, he can eat of it. If that blood was going to be
brought into the tabernacle, He could not eat of that. Now, that priest could eat. Now there was a specific reason
why that priest could eat of certain sin offerings and why
he could not eat of certain sin offerings. The priest could eat
of that sin offering that truly pictured The Lord Jesus Christ,
if that blood was not brought into the tabernacle, that priest
could eat of it, and it pictured this, the sin was born in the
very body of our substitute Himself. And it was put away. When that
priest would take that sin offering, offer it before the Lord, offer
it right there at the brazen altar, That animal could be taken
and eaten and it was picturing the Lord bearing our guilt, bearing
our sin in His own body and putting it away and hiding it. Satisfaction
was made for it. Whenever that sin offering was
made, Outside. In the court. I always say out under the stars
so you'll know what I'm talking about. It's out there in the
outer court where you can see the sky and everything. Inside
was that tabernacle that we talk about. The holy place and then
the veil and then the holy of holies. If that sin offering
was offered for the common people, it was offered back at the brazen
altar. I do this because I have in my mind, I'm picturing that
tabernacle. Two-thirds of it is the holy
place, the showbread, the candlestick, and then the golden labor right
in front, and then that golden altar of incense, then the altar,
and inside that altar, the mercy seat and the Ark of the Covenant.
But right here at the gate, it was cloth, it was skins, and
they were pulled back And that's how you came into the outer court. And there was the brazen altar. That was the first thing you
saw was the brazen altar. Right there is where that sin
offering for the common people was sacrificed. Right there.
And they were taken... Look at Leviticus 4, excuse me,
verse 30. If you just look back at 27,
this is the one where I was reading, if any of the common people sin
through ignorance. Now verse 30, here's what's going
to happen. Verse 30, of that sacrifice,
that sin offering for the common people. The priest shall take
of the blood thereof with his finger and put it upon the horns
of the altar of the burnt offering, and shall pour out All the blood
thereof at the bottom of that altar. Here's how that sin offering
was dealt with. They killed it right there at
the brazen altar. Outside in the outer court. The
priest would take that blood and the horns were on the corners. A picture of the power. of the
effectualness of that burnt sacrifice. That burnt sacrifice pictured
the obedient sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ before His
Father. That's what the burnt sacrifice
pictured. It was a sweet savor called a
sacrifice unto the Lord. It was totally for the Lord.
And that brazen altar right there, that's where the sin offering
was cut. And that blood was taken and it was put on those four
horns. Every time he'd dip his finger
and put it in, he'd dip his finger, put it in, dip his finger, put
it in. Setting forth the blood was the effectualness of that
sacrifice. And that's where the power of
forgiveness was. Through that blood that pictured
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that sin offering, the application
of that blood, was totally upon the merit of the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. And then the rest of the blood,
still for the common people, was taken, the Scripture says,
back in verse 30, you pour all of it out at the bottom of the
altar. They're outside. Everybody's
watching. They can see. And the whole congregation viewed
that that atonement had been made. That's what it pictured.
Poured out. Everybody openly in view. The blood was shed, applied to
the brazen altar, sacrificed. The priests could eat of that
sacrifice, that sin offering. Again, picturing the Lord Jesus
Christ that bore our guilt, our sin, in His own body. Now, there
was a sacrifice that could not be eaten, a sin offering that
could not be eaten by the ones that served the tabernacle. Back
in Hebrews, we'll flip back here for just a second. But look,
we have an altar whereof they have no right to eat which served
the tabernacle. As I said, there was one sin
offering they could eat of. For the common people. But for
this other sacrifice, there was one they couldn't eat of. Now,
what was that? Again, the Scripture sets forth
back in Leviticus 6. My apologies, but just hold your
finger there because I'll flip you back and forth here. Back in Leviticus 6. No sin offering. whereof any of the blood is brought
into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile with all in the
holy place shall be eaten. That sacrifice, it shall be burnt
in the fire." There was a difference where the blood was applied. made all the difference whether
or not that sacrifice could be eaten or it couldn't be eaten
if the blood was brought into the tabernacle. Now, here's the
setting forth of that sin offering that could not be eaten. Leviticus 4, verses 3-12. Leviticus
4, verses 3-12. I told you a while ago, if the
offering, the sin offering, was offered for the high priest himself,
and you remember this, he was just a man. The common people,
they had to have a sin offering too. But if the sin offering
was offered for the high priest, because he was a sinner, if that
sin offering was offered for the high priest, or if it was
the sin offering for the day of atonement, This is the rule
right here. Leviticus 4, verse 3, if the
priest that is anointed, that's the high priest, do sin according
to the sin of the people, then let him bring for his sin which
he hath sinned a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord
for a sin offering. He shall bring the bullock unto
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord,
And he shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head and kill the
bullock before the Lord." He had to kill the bullock at the
brazen altar just like the common people did. The priest that is anointed,
verse 5, shall take of the bullock's blood and bring it to the tabernacle
of the congregation. And the priest shall dip his
finger in the blood and sprinkle of the blood seven times before
the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary. And the priest
shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet
incense before the Lord." That's that altar we looked at a time
before, two Wednesdays ago. That altar of incense that set
forth the merit of the Lord Jesus Christ and His intercession. Verse 7, the priest shall put
some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense
before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation,
and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom
of the altar of the burn-off. And he'll take the rest of it,
and he'll go back outside, and he'll pour the rest of it around
the brazen altar, which is at the door of the tabernacle of
the congregation. And he shall take off From it,
all the fat of the bullock of the sin offering, the fat that
covereth the inwards, all the fat that is upon the inwards,
the two kidneys, the fat that is upon them, which is by the
flanks, the call above the liver, which the kidneys shall take
away as it is taken off from the bullock of the sacrifices
of peace offerings, and the priest shall burn them upon the altar
of the burnt offering. And the skin of the bullock,
and all his flesh with his head, with his legs, his inwards, his
dung, even the whole bullock shall be carried forth without
the camp unto a clean place where the ashes are poured out and
burning on the wood with fire where the ashes are poured out
shall he be burned." That bullock, that sacrifice for the high priest
and to be an expensive animal. No expense was to be spared when
the sin offering was for the high priest, the one that attended
the tabernacle. Killed him at the brazen altar. Sacrifice was made in view of
all the people, just like the crucifixion. Our Lord hung in
open view. before God Almighty and this
world. But then the blood was brought
into the tabernacle. Oh, what that pictured! There
was something mysterious that happened, truly, when our Lord
died. That blood, the scripture said
we just read, was sprinkled seven times before the Lord. They tell me of perfection. It
was sprinkled before the veil of the sanctuary. And then that
blood was applied to the horns of the altar of incense, setting
forth as a type of our precious Savior. You think about that.
That sacrifice was a type of Him. The altar was a type of
Him. Blood was his type. An altar
of incense was his type. The horns on that altar of incense
was his type. Everything was him. Everything
was him. Nothing was not expressing him. And then that high priest would
go and he would take and apply that blood to those horns of
that altar of incense, setting forth that his fragrant intercession
is totally in the power of His sacrifice. What gave His intercession
merit? The blood. The blood. The blood of His sacrifice being
made sin. The One who made a curse to deliver
us from the curse of the law. He was made a curse. What gave
His appealing on our behalf? Merit. Obedience is our sin offering. His blood. The merit. His blood. The strong appeal
for atonement set forth here in type by our Lord, the Savior
of His people, making our guilt to be His. Psalm 40, verse 12,
my iniquities have taken hold of me so that I'm not able to
look up. The Scriptures set forth 2 Corinthians
5.21, He, the Father, hath made Him sin for us who knew no sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Now, here's this
sacrifice, that sin offering. And after that blood was sprinkled
before the Lord, and after it was applied to the altar of incense,
they took the rest of it outside, as I said, and they poured it
around that brazen altar. And the law for the offering
of the whole congregation of the people of Israel was the
same offering. Same rules as it was for the
high priest. That sin offering for the high
priest, that sin offering on the Day of Atonement couldn't
be eaten. It was to be taken outside the
camp. The skin, the flesh, the dung,
all of it was burned. It was treated as refuge. That's what it was treated as.
It was treated as totally polluted. It had to be taken out. Even those that brought it out
there were ceremonially unclean and had to be cleansed. Oh, what
our Lord bore for us. Now you think about it. The type,
the type was treated as that which is totally polluted. 1 Peter 3.18 says, For Christ
also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit. That sin offering, the Scripture sets forth that
sin offering, They had no right to eat what served the tabernacle. They had no right. God gave them
no right, no permission. Why? It was treated as totally
polluted refuge. That sin offering could not be
eaten by the priest. It was totally consumed by God's
wrath. Justice was served. And the law was honored. And
the transfer of our guilt to Him, even in the type, even in
the picture, Even in the shadow, the transfer of guilt was set
forth, even in a picture, as so complete that even the type
of the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ for His people on the
Day of Atonement and for the sacrifice, the sin offering for
the high priest himself, it was so complete and so polluted that
it could not be used as food in the Old Testament. It was
to be taken outside the camp and burned with fire as our altar,
our Lord, our sin-bearer was completely consumed by the wrath
of God. back in Hebrews 13, verses 11-13. For the bodies of those beasts
whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest
for sin are burned without the camp. You know, that's what we
just looked at. Wherefore, Jesus also that He
might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without
the gate." That is, being made sin. Being made what we are. Made sin. I think about how even
the type was so considered to be polluted. The priest could
not eat that. It was the same meat. It was
the same meat. But as far as the ceremonial
application of it, it was so polluted ceremonially that they
couldn't eat it. You take that out and you burn
that. Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp bearing
His reproach. Our glorious Savior, our sin
offering, laid down His life, spilled His own blood, made precious
intercession for His people, pleading His own merit in our
behalf, and entered into the very presence of God for us,
that He might sanctify us and make us holy in Himself. He suffered being made a curse
to deliver his own from the curse of the law. He suffered without
the gate, outside the tabernacle, outside of that congregational
assembly, suffered his holy body to be given into the hands of
God's wrath, laid down his life, and that innocent soul made sin. And by one sacrifice, he has
perfected forever, Scripture says, those that are sanctified,
set apart unto God. He who suffered was an outcast. He was cast out of Jerusalem
and to Calvary. But even God Almighty, when He
was made sin, forsook Him. God forsook Him. God forsook
Him. My God, my God, why hast Thou
forsaken Me? He so bore the sin of His people
He was absolutely, in the Scripture, describing what happened. And
here again, I'm telling you, we can say it in no greater terms
in what He did than say what Scripture said. He was made sin. Made sin. Now, here we are. We have an altar. That altar that pictured our
sin offering, they couldn't eat of it. It was so polluted. They had no right to eat. But to us who believe, He said,
except ye eat of My flesh and drink of My blood, you have no
life in you. Come, eat by faith. We do eat of Him. We do eat of His life, His death,
His blood by faith. And I'll tell you this, we're
thankful for it. Let us, verse 13, go forth, therefore
unto Him, Without the camp, they had a tabernacle, a camp. And they went outside of that
camp. What do we go outside of now? I'll tell you what we go
outside of. This world's religion. This world's
false religion. Go outside the camp. Going under
Him. Going under Him. and bear his
reproach. He was made reproach. He was
made sin. In closing, look at Hebrews 11.
11, 23, 26. Let us go unto Him, bearing His
reproach. Hebrews 11, 23, 26. Moses, when he was born, was
hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper
child. They were not afraid of the King's commandment. By faith,
Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season,
esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches, than the treasures
in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward."
1 Peter 4.14. If ye be reproached for the name
of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God
resteth upon you, on their part he is evil spoken of. But on
your part, He's glorified. My friend, He who bore our guilt,
He who was made sin, He that was forsaken of the Father, He
that in that type was made to be so polluted that even the
type could not be eaten. We have an altar right now, and
by faith, we thankfully bear his reproach. Lord, what you
suffered, what you were made, you were made for me. Lord, what
you bore, you bore for me. And I gladly, I thankfully call
myself, not as the world flippantly uses this title, but I thankfully
call myself a Christian. I'm a Christian. He put away
my guilt in His own body. He bore my sin. And now, it's
cast as far as the east is from the west. Hidden behind the back
of God. Let us go forth, therefore, unto
Him. Without the camp, bearing his
approach. Lord, bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake.