Chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9. I'd like to begin in verse 18,
and we'll look through verse 23. But before we begin tonight,
let's ask our Lord's blessing. Our Father, we thank You for
the precious time we have to call upon Your holy name. And
thank You, Lord, for Your mercy, grace, compassion, longsuffering
to keep us. Lord, thank You that we can worship. I pray You'd bless Your Word
tonight, our understanding. Lord, we pray for Bob and Margaret. I pray You'd help them. I know she's tired. And I know
that, Father, You do all things well. I pray You'd have mercy. Pray for those in our midst that
are hurting, that are ill. And Lord, I pray for those in
our families that are lost. I pray You'd save them. according
to Your everlasting purpose and will and mercy. Lord, I know
You're going to do right. I pray You'd have mercy for Christ's
sake. Amen. Under the first covenant, that
covenant in the wilderness, under the
Levitical priesthood, The nation of Israel was given by the law
of God a way in which Almighty God would be approached. The Lord dealt with Israel under that Levitical priesthood
in shadows and tight pictures, and they would offer these sacrifices
in strict accordance of God's law, God's Word. They had to
have a sacrifice. They had to have a priest. Now, under that Levitical priesthood,
the nation of Israel by the offering of those sacrifices, they were
made according to God's way, according to God's law, ceremonially clean. Scripture says in verse 13 of
this chapter, it says, "...for if the blood of bulls and of and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling
the unclean sanctifyeth to the purifying of the flesh, there
was a way in which the Lord ordained that they would ceremonially
be clean. They had to approach God, God's
way, but the blood of bulls and goats could not make a sinner
actually clean or purge the conscience from dead works to serve the
living God. And when I say dead works, this
is what I mean, inadequate, impotent. The blood of bulls and goats
could not put away sin. Now an external purification
through that offering of the blood of animals was never adapted
to actually give peace to a troubled conscience. Year after year after
year, every day of atonement, the next year was another day
of atonement, another day of atonement. And that day of atonement
was set forth for the ceremonial cleansing of the sins of that
past year. But they had another year to
look forward to. And there was going to have to be another sacrifice.
The conscience was never purged by those dead works, inadequate
works. Now those sacrifices could make
the offerers such that he might draw near to God according to
that Levitical priesthood, and he wouldn't be excluded because
of a ceremonial defilement. He wouldn't be actually excluded
from the commonwealth, from the nation, from the synagogue. But
as far as his conscience, setting his conscience to be at peace.
It just couldn't do it. Absolutely. But if those sacrifices
sanctified, the Scripture says, to the purifying of the flesh,
that's what verse 13, if those sacrifices sanctified or set
apart to the purifying of the flesh, look at verse 14, how
much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works, from those inadequate works, from those impotent works,
to serve the living God. His blood that was pictured by
those ceremonies and legal sacrifices of all the Old Testament was
offered as a sin-atoning sacrifice to God. His blood absolutely
was efficacious. That means it got the job done. It accomplished the purpose of
Almighty God. When that blood is applied by
the Holy Spirit to the new man, the new mind, the new heart,
When that blood is applied by the Spirit of God, by faith,
our conscience is purged. We agree with Almighty God. It's finished. The Lord has put
away my guilt. The Lord Jesus Christ has cleansed
me from all unrighteousness. I stand before Him Uncondemned. My conscience is purged. My heart
is at peace with Almighty God. And without the shedding of that
blood, the Scripture sets forth there's no remission of sins. There's no putting away. I know
how false religion sets forth that sin can be put away by merely
asking. Asking. It's almost like sweeping
it under the rug. The Lord Almighty God is just. Remember this, there is no forgiveness
of sin. When we say the shedding of blood,
the Lord Jesus Christ had to be made sin. He had to be made
what we are. The sin of God's people. had to be dealt with. God's just. He's just. I will in no wise
clear the guilty. Do you understand that? No. There's
no actual forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood.
Carnal man believes that there's a way in which God can be approached
by the works of the law. By the deeds of the law shall
no man be justified. There's no way in the world that
the blood of bulls and goats don't put away sin. Bulls and
goats didn't rebel against God. It was a picture. It was a type.
Man sins against God. And a man must obey God. So without
the shedding of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, there's
no forgiveness of sin. Now, this truth was so guarded,
that truth that I just talked about, without the shedding of
blood there is no remission of sin. That truth was so guarded
by the Spirit of God to the honor of our blessed Savior that no
picture, no type, no shadow of redemption was allowed in the
Old Testament without the shedding of blood. That blood pictured
Him. That blood pictured His sacrifice. That blood pictured God Almighty
being satisfied. That blood of the bulls and goats,
the animals that were shed in the Old Testament, that blood
set forth the glory of Almighty God in the redemption of His
people. And so precious is that truth
that even then, blood had to be shed, even in that time. Verse
18 says this, whereupon neither the First Testament was dedicated,
purified, without blood. Even in that First Testament,
the death of the victim was necessary to confirm that covenant. In
all covenant transactions with Almighty God, the death of the
victim is necessary. The Lord Himself gloriously sets
forth the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every time the
blood was shed by one of those animals, by that priest unto
one of those animals, it's set forth. The blood of Christ alone
puts away sin. Blood is going to have to be
shed. It's going to have to be death. The wages of sin, death,
blood. Look at verse 19. For when Moses
had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law,
he took the blood of calves and of goats with water and scarlet
wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book and all the people. I'll read this to you. Turn if
you will. Turn with me. Turn with me to Exodus 24. This is what I just read there
in Hebrews. This is where this is found.
Exodus 24, verse 3, And Moses came and told the people all
the words of the Lord, and all the judgments, and all the people
answered with one voice and said, All the words which the Lord
has said Will we do? And Moses wrote all the words
of the Lord and rose up early in the morning and built an altar
under the hill and 12 pillars according to the 12 tribes of
Israel. He sent young men of the children of Israel which
offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings and oxen unto
the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins. Half the blood he sprinkled on
the altar And he took the book of the covenant and read in the
audience of the people. And they said, All the Lord has
said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood and
sprinkled it on the people and said, Behold, the blood of the
covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all
of these words." When Moses had given the pattern for the tabernacle
and its services. You know that the Lord gave Moses
the pattern. He said this is the way. This
is how big you'll build the sanctuary. This is how big the tabernacle
will be. This is what the framework will
be made out of. This is how the candlestick is
going to be made. This is how the mercy... All
of those pieces, all of those pieces of furniture, all of the
pattern, what happened was After he made all those things exactly
the way that the Lord had set forth, he took the blood in the
water, which was typical, setting forth in type that blood and
water that flowed from our Lord's side at His crucifixion. Blood, that blood that sets forth
our justification, that blood that set forth, that by that
blood Our sin has been paid for. Our debt before God's law has
been canceled, justified. No record, wonderful word, no
guilt whatsoever. The law looks at God's people
and under the blood, under the blood, God said, when I see the
blood, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. by that blood
that flowed from His side were justified. No guilt. No record of guilt. Can you imagine? In Christ, no record. And water, blood and water, water
is a picture of the Spirit of God by which we are sanctified,
set apart, sealed, made holy. The Scripture sets forth that
Moses took that blood and he sprinkled that blood and that
water and he sprinkled that book. He wrote down what God has said. We're reading it. He wrote down
the Word of Almighty God. And he took that blood and he
sprinkled that book and he said these words, from the mouth of
God and all the blessings from Him to the objects of His mercy,
He said, these are ratified by the blood, the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is what back in Hebrews
10, this is what verse 20 says. It says, saying, this is the
blood of the Testament, of the will. which God hath enjoined
unto you." The blood that confirmed the covenant between God and
His people. This is the blood of the Testament
which God has made with you, enjoined unto you. This is the
blood that seals this. This is the blood that makes
this right before God Almighty. This is how God can be just and
justify a sinner." Isn't that a marvelous thought? How should
God be just and justify a sinner? How can God Almighty be just
in absolutely dealing with sin? And I'm talking about dealing
with every sin, every sin that His people would ever commit.
How could God be just and put away their sin and deal with
them, rebels by nature against Him? How could God be just and
justify and declare them to be before His law? No guilt. How? He hath made Him, God the
Father, God Almighty, have made Him to be sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. The Lord Jesus Christ, God's
Lamb, God's provision, God's sacrifice, He made Him what we
are. And He as the substitute, the
absolute substitute, dealt with God. For us, an Almighty God
in absolute justice dealt with our sin and put it away as far
as the east is from the west. And has also robed us in the
righteousness of His Son. What a miracle of God's grace! What kindness, what good news. This Testament, this is the blood
of the Testament. This is the blood of the will.
This is the blood of the covenant. This Testament, it's not between
equals. It's not like a Testament whereby
or a will or a covenant or a contract where I would go in and make
it. with somebody else, between two people, me and the bank or
me and you. I'm going to buy something from
you. This testament, this covenant
is not between equals. This testament is between God
Almighty and God Almighty. Father, Son, Spirit. That everlasting
covenant on the behalf of Those that absolutely had no power
whatsoever to make any part of it good. This testament is between
God Himself, with Himself, and it is not up to the recipients,
the objects of that mercy, to keep their end of the bargain.
Under the law, the law says do and live. This New Testament, newly revealed. This Testament is done. It's
finished. Almighty God has accomplished
salvation according to His everlasting purpose and will. It's an everlasting
covenant of grace, totally on God's part. Well, don't I have to believe
in order to be saved? Oh, you'll believe. You will
believe. God's people will believe. But
your belief is not what established your salvation. We're saved by
grace through faith that's given whereby
you understand and know that God saved you by grace. Faith,
as I've said before, didn't die for you. Christ did. Faith is the evidence of that
which Almighty God has done. God saves His people according
to His covenant. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. And He did not wait. He did not wait for me to do
something in order that I might be saved. He saved me by grace. He saves all His people by grace
and tells them about it. Puts them under the sound of
the gospel. And the Spirit of God takes that message and they
hear it and He gives them ears to hear and eyes to see and they
believe it. Faith is the evidence of salvation,
not the source of it, not the justification for it. This covenant
of grace is established on the basis of God satisfying Himself
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that blood has ever
been viewed by the Father. This Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world And I've said before, it was Christ in whom the Father
first trusted. We trust Him tonight. We believe
Him tonight. The Father trusted Him first,
saw Him, and He was satisfied. Verse 21-22, Moreover, the sprinkling
with blood, both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry,
almost all things are by the law purged with blood. And without
the shedding of blood is no remission. The tabernacle and all of the
pieces, the vessels of that ministry sprinkled with blood. That tabernacle
and all of the pieces of furniture in it, everything were types
of Christ. And the sprinkling of all those,
the books, Moses wrote down the words of God, sprinkle the blood
on them, sprinkle the tabernacles, sprinkle the mercies, everything
was sprinkled. Moses didn't sprinkle the mercy
seat, I'm sorry, the high priest. But all of those, the candlestick,
the shoulder, all of it sprinkled with blood, setting forth that
all of these things, it sent forth the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ was God's provision. setting forth that Christ Himself
satisfied God. It was the blood, the blood,
all of these things. That was the requirement of God
for acceptance with Him, the blood of Christ. And the Scripture
says almost all things are by the law purged. Almost all things
are by the law. Almost all things are by the
law. by the law purged with blood. Some things were purified by
fire. I want you to turn with me to
Numbers. I want to show you something. Numbers chapter 31. Numbers 31. All things are by the laws. I don't understand the terminology
here. Numbers 31, verse 22, 23. Here's what we just read. Let
me read this again while you hold the numbers, 31. It says
that almost all things are by the law purged with blood. Here's what numbers 31, 22, and
23 say. Only the gold and the silver,
the brass, the iron, the tin, the lead, everything that may
abide the fire, everything that can go through the fire and be
sustained, go through the fire. You shall make it go through
the fire, it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall be purified
with the water of separation, and all that abideth not the
fire you shall make go through the water." Some things couldn't
abide fire. Look at verse 24. You shall wash
your clothes on the seventh day. You shall be clean, and afterward
you shall come into the camp. Now here's what the Scripture
was setting forth. Some things could be purged by
fire. Some things couldn't sustain
the fire to make themselves ceremonially clean by ceremony. But without
the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sin. Some things
in type could be cleansed, purged by fire. If they couldn't sustain
the fire, the gold, the silver, the tin, the lead, if they couldn't
sustain the fire, they could be purged by water. You wash
yourself. That's why the priests would
wash themselves. But without the shedding of blood,
there's no true forgiveness of sin. No example ever given in
all of Scripture whereby sin was actually pardoned without
the shedding of blood. Ceremony? Yes. Almost, the Scripture says, almost
all things are by the law purged with blood. Without the shedding
of blood, there is no remission. The Scripture sets forth 1 John
1.7, but if we walk in the light as He was in the light, We have
fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses us from all sin. Not the blood of bulls and goats.
Not the water. Not the types. Types. But when
it comes to the actual putting away of guilt without the shedding of His blood,
But I see the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I lay
down my life for the sheep. I'm telling you, He put away
their guilt. It's finished. And in time, Almighty
God is going to bring that to our understanding. And we're
going to believe Him. Verse 23, it said, It was therefore
necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should
be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with
better sacrifices than these. That tabernacle, that mercy seat,
that written law, that priesthood, Even the people themselves, they
were patterns of what is in heaven. You know that the nation of Israel,
they were a type of God's true Israel. Even they were sprinkled. Moses sprinkled the people. Hebrews
8.5, just look back. All of these things. Hebrews
8.5. It says, "...who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly
things, as Moses was admonished by God when he was about to make
the tabernacle. For see, saith he, that thou
make all the things according to the pattern shown thee in
the mount." All of these things, everything, as said a while ago,
everything was made according to God's pattern, God's Word. Our Lord has actually put away
the guilt of his people. It's not ceremony. He prays for
us truly as the one that the Father has accepted. As our federal
head and eternal surety, pictured in the Old Testament, was that
priest. We have a high priest. the blood
that was shed year after year after year. He shed His blood
one time and has forever perfected them which are sanctified. Now,
since all of these things that are being done in heaven itself
is established totally by His precious blood, verse 23 again,
that it was therefore necessary that the patterns, the types
of things in the heavens should be purified with these things. They had to shed blood back then. Perfect, glorious picture of
our Lord Jesus Christ in the putting away of our guilt. Bless
the Lord. He has absolutely prevailed. by the shedding of His own blood,
and He has perfected forever. Now, let me tell you in closing
something that I think will settle your heart. We believe these things by faith.
We believe them. But thanks be unto God, it is
not our feelings, there's times that I grieve overtaking what
I just preached right here and thinking to myself, if these
things were applied to me based on how well I perceive them or
even how well I can rejoice in them, there's times that I'll
be honest with you, I can read these things and I think to myself,
Lord, oh, how cold is my heart. I ought to rejoice in this. My heart should be lifted in
praise and adoration. But thanks be unto Him, His everlasting
covenant is not established or based or maintained by my ability
to be able to perceive. I see in part, I know in part, I preach in part. I just preached
on a passage of Scripture that I'll be honest with you, there's
some things in here that are so deep, I'm the first one to
admit how much I don't know. But thanks be unto Him. David
said, this is all my salvation. This is all my salvation that
He has made with me. An everlasting covenant ordered
in all things, ensured. This is all my hope. This is
all my desire that Almighty God would show mercy and compassion
to this sinner and cause me to realize Lord, it is by grace
that You've saved me. Not according to my ability to
grasp hold. But one of these days, by the
grace of God, we'll see Him as He is. Know Him. And be like Him. And understand
in that day what He's done. But for right now, that He would
show me anything For that I am thankful. May the Lord bless
these words to our heart, for Christ's sake. Amen.