I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Hebrews chapter
13. Now, we're going through this book. And I want to look at one Scripture. Really, one portion of one Scripture. And Lord willing, When we come
to this, we are actually in Hebrews 12, but I want us to look at
verse 10, at this one part of verse 10. We have an altar. We have an altar. Now, many today speak of a practice
that has absolutely no scriptural basis for it. But this practice is widely adhered
to and it's referred to as coming down to the altar. And what's meant by that statement
is that men and women, when they have an altar call, they come
down to the front and they kneel at what's called
the altar and they begin to pray, usually together, all out loud,
one time. And they pray what's called through. Pray through. I want to know what God has to
say about that. I want you to turn with me to
Matthew 6, verses 1-6. Matthew 6. While you're turning there, I
thought about this as I was trying to make preparation for this
message. And this message was born to
my heart because of something that I witnessed and then was
questioned about. Why did I not participate in
it? And the Lord says in Matthew
6, take heed, be careful, be very careful,
that ye do not your alms, your righteousnesses before men to
be seen of them. Otherwise, You have no reward
of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore, when thou doest thine
alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily,
I say unto you, they have their reward. But when thou doest alms,
Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. And I truly believe that the
meaning of that verse we just read is that one on your left
hand. Don't let him know what your
right hand is doing. That thine arms may be in secret. that thy father which seeth in
secret himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest,
thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray, standing
in the synagogues, in the corners of the streets, that they may
be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. But thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet, And when thou hast shut thy door, pray
to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in
secret shall reward thee openly." Here our Lord warns us. He said,
take heed. Take heed. Be careful. Brother Carl just came and led
us in prayer and read Scripture. And I'm telling you, that is
a very hard thing, the praying part. Because you're wanting
to talk to the Lord, and it's just a hard thing. It is hard. It's hard for any man to stand
up and lead in prayer because you're quite aware of people
that are listening. Our Lord tells us when we pray, and I know, as
I said, there are times that we have prayed. I pray just like
the other men do. But it is a hard thing. But to come down and to make
a show Coming down. Something that's not even scriptural.
To come down and to make a show and to do your righteousnesses
before men. And claim, I'm coming down to
the altar. Scripture never commands men
to come to an earthly altar. John 6.35, And Jesus said unto
them, I am the bread of life, he that cometh to Me. He that
believeth on me shall never thirst." What is it to come to Christ?
It's to believe Him. So for the believer, it can truly
be said that he comes to Christ who is his altar. The Scripture
says we have an altar. We have an altar. having Him
as our altar. And we have to understand now,
when we talk about an altar, you're talking about a place
to sacrifice it, you're talking about the sacrifice upon it,
and you're talking about one that sacrifices an altar. And when we hear of an altar,
What that says in itself, that God Almighty has provided an
altar, it says that the Lord will be appeased. He shall be satisfied that He
has provided the altar. He will meet with men. That's good news that we have
an altar. It's good news. It speaks of
satisfaction. It speaks of justice. It speaks
of righteousness and holiness. We have an altar. Almighty God is going to redeem
His people. He is going to satisfy Himself.
His law is going to be honored. So when we read, Back in Hebrews
13.10, we have an altar. I want to, for just a few minutes,
say something about what that means, and then, Lord willing,
when we come to this portion of Scripture, I'll deal with
all of the verses pertaining to this, but I want to deal with
that part tonight. We have an altar. Here's the first thing I know.
Knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ is our altar. Here is what we're saying. Number
one, that He is Almighty God. He is God Himself. Holy. Just. He is God. For Him to be our
altar, there must be a place on which the sacrifice is sacrificed. The Lord Jesus Christ, being
God Himself, sets forth that God has been offended. God Himself, when man rebelled
against God in the garden, God Almighty was alienated from men. Man rebelled against God on purpose. Therefore, man is guilty. So
man deserves the wrath of God. He deserves
it. God Almighty, who will not pass by the transgression of
His people, He will by no means clear the guilty. There must
be satisfaction being the merciful God that He is. He is a just
God and a Savior. He provided the altar. But His holy jealousy demanded
that his altar, a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ himself,
God himself, would never be polluted. The place at which the Lord Jesus
Christ God's sacrifice would be altered. I mean, a sacrifice
where He would suffer. That altar could not be polluted. Turn with me. Hold your place
right here. Exodus 20. Exodus 20. Exodus 20 verses 24
to 26. Exodus 20. Verse 24, here is the altar. Men talk about coming down to
the altar. This is the only altar that God
is going to accept, right here. An altar of earth thou shalt
make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings,
thy peace offerings, thy sheep, thy oxen, and all places where
I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee."
Where? Where there is a place of sacrifice.
If thou wilt make me an altar of stone, I shall not build it
of hewn stone, for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast
polluted it, neither shalt thou go up. thy steps unto mine altar,
that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon." God's altar was going
to be an altar of God's providing. Man would not alter it, put his
thoughts to it, put his works on it, put his hands on it as
far as shaping it, hewing the rocks and making it pretty as
far as man's thoughts, man's will, man's work. No tool, no
effort, no thought of man's contriving imagination was going to be accepted. God is holy. His justice is holy. His altar. It's holy. It's a holy altar. It is an altar of God's making. So our altar, the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have an altar, is set forth when we realize and
perceive His divine nature. He's God. He is our altar. The place at
which the sacrifice is going to be laid is on the divinity
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's God. He demands justice. He demands sacrifice. He demands satisfaction. So when we say we have an altar,
We know this. Our altar, the place where it's
going to be sacrificed, is at the very place of God's holiness,
and God's justice, and God's wrath. He is a holy God. Holy. You will not touch it. You will not improve on it. You
can't improve on it. Here we see. God's demand for
an altar. And mercy provided that altar. His divinity is the place where
the sacrifice is going to be laid. But secondly, we see Christ
being our altar because therein we see Him as the accepted sacrifice
upon that altar. God's holiness, justice, demanded
the shedding of blood. But not just any blood. It had
to be holy blood to satisfy. It had to be the holy God. that was satisfied. Holy wrath
had to be satisfied. Holy justice had to be satisfied. Turn to Hebrews 10. Go back to
Hebrews. Hebrews 10.4. You see, He is our altar. That altar upon which that sacrifice
is going to be laid is Christ God Almighty. Hebrews 10.4. Hebrews 10 says this, for it
is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should
take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. and burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sins thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book. It is written of me to do thy
will, O God." Now here's what I know. Christ is our altar. The place of the altar is the
holiness, the divinity, The righteousness of God Almighty. That's what
demands the sacrifice. Where's the place of the sacrifice?
The holiness of God. God will by no wise clear the
guilty. There's the place of the altar
right there. What's going to be placed on that altar? A perfect
sacrifice. A sacrifice of God's choosing. A willing sacrifice. He hath
made Him to be sin, who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. So there is going to have to
be a sacrifice laid upon that altar. God's sacrifice had to
forever settle the debt that was owed to God's broken law.
Hebrews 10 verse 12 says this, that this man, the God-man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of
God. of God's altar is His divinity. He's God. The sacrifice is the
man, Christ Jesus, made flesh, willingly came into this world
and laid down His life in the redemption of His people. He
is the sacrifice. He is our altar. An altar had
to have a place of sacrifice. It had to have a sacrifice. And
then thirdly, it must be attended by God's priest. The priest of God's choosing.
The one who approached God. This is what a priest did. A
priest approached God. for the people. He bore for the
people their petitions before God Almighty. And the people were accepted
before God only on the merit of the priest. So God's priest
had to be God. He had to be God Himself. Because
Almighty God is a holy God. And He will not look upon sin. He is of purer eyes than to behold
iniquity. So when God Almighty is approached
by a priest, it's going to be a priest that God Almighty has
chosen. A priest taken from among men. So the priest that God was going
to accept had to be a mediator. He had to be an advocate. He
had to be God Himself to approach God. Accepted by God. And he had to be one who could
be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. One who was
in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. The priest had to be a perfect
mediator, a perfect advocate to plead for the people, being
one of them. but one who could approach God
on his own merit that God Almighty would look at and say, this is
my Son in whom I am well pleased. You hear Him. He had to be a man. God. God Almighty be accepted. Divinity. Man. who could approach
God for the people. He had to be one who satisfies
the justice of God and one who is satisfied. He must
be God in man. He had to satisfy and be satisfied
all of God's demand for righteousness justice, all of God's pleasure
to show mercy and compassion to sinners must find its satisfaction
and completion in our altar. God's altar must be God to give
merit to the offering and man to be a fit representative for
the people. Only here do we find the great
high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, set forth. God's altar, in conclusion, sets
forth that God demands justice. When we see or hear the altar,
we know that something, someone is going to die. An altar was
a place where blood was shed. And God's altar sets forth Him
who is the willing, holy, innocent sacrifice for sin. And God's
altar declares that Christ is our great High Priest who offered
Himself to God and as God. accepted Himself. The obedient Lamb shed His blood,
that blood that was ever beheld by the Father. He is our altar who offered Himself the atonement,
offered Himself to Himself. Thy throne, the Scripture says,
O God. God Himself, to satisfy His own
demand for justice and righteousness, paid the debt Himself to Himself. That's what Brother Scott always
said. God did something for Himself. He had to do something for Himself
before He ever did anything for us. That's what He said. That's
what He meant. God Himself offered Himself to
Himself and satisfied Himself and put
away the guilt of His people. Christ is all and in all. When we say He is our altar,
we have an altar. I'm telling you, all that was
demanded, He supplied. He satisfied. God Almighty can
be just and the justifier of them that believe. 1 Corinthians
1.30 says, But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is
made unto us wisdom revealing God's truth, and righteousness
making us so in Him, and sanctification setting us apart to be vessels
of His mercy and redemption, Him being our ransom. My friends,
for God's people, I've got some good news for you. We have an
altar. The place of that altar is divinity. God Himself who demands justice. God Almighty who demands that
sin be dealt with. And that place is where He laid
Himself down. The willing sacrifice. That sacrifice
that God accepted. And that priest that offered
it was the God-man. God Himself. Man Himself. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
Lord, bless these words to our heart for Christ's sake.