A few years ago, someone said to me, I know what your pet doctrine is. They said your pet doctrine is
the substitutionary sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. I said, well, I wouldn't speak
in such a light and airy way of saying that's my pet doctrine. I said, but I will say this.
That's the heart. That's the heart of my hope. That's the heart of the Gospel. When the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world. And he died at Calvary. And he
said, it is finished. Substitution, redemption, salvation
was accomplished. I have entitled this message,
Who Can Take Away Sin? Hebrews 10 verse 4 says, For
it is not possible. There's impotency. That's with
the word impossible. It's not possible. It's impotent.
No strength. It's not possible that the blood
of bulls and goats should take away sin. I've had this message on my heart
heavily, and I'm going to tell you right now that I am standing
here and I, within my very being, I'm shaking. I don't know if I'm scared. Maybe I'm scared. Maybe I'm nervous. But I will tell you this, I'm
aware of what I'm about to talk about. And I'm aware of who hears
me. And I'm talking about one higher
than you and I. I realize that the Lord Jesus
Christ is in this place. He said, with two or three gathered
together in my name, I'm in the midst of you. And I realize too
that He is the one before whom I shall answer and I shall stand. And by His grace, I want to be
truthful this morning. If I've ever been truthful, I
want to be truthful today. I want to have respect for Him
and Him alone. The Scripture says, the blood
of bulls and goats, not possible, that they should take away, that
they should remove. That word, take away, is from two other words that
means to separate or to take for one's self. It's impossible. that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away, that they should be able to separate and take
for oneself sins. Brother Scott just read that
these sacrifices were a shadow of good
things to come. They were the outline of the
object. I stand out in the sun and my
shadow is cast down and it's an outline. And really, depending
on where the sun is, it's kind of a, you know, I know it's me,
but I don't really think that I'm 17 feet long if the sun's
really behind me. It's an outline. It's a figure.
But it is a shadow of the true object, but it has no substance. You can step on my shadow all
you want to and you're not going to hurt me. It has no substance. It's a shadow. They could. I'm talking about the sacrifices
of bulls and goats and their blood. They could never with
these sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually
or forever. make the comers, that is, those
that are coming in worship. They could never make those coming.
They could never make those worshiping thereunto perfect. Now, these
sacrifices did set forth that Almighty God was holy, that God
was going to judge sin. These sacrifices were ordained
of God. I will never Never speak disrespectfully
of that which Almighty God has ordained. Never. But the Word
of God says with these sacrifices they could never take away sin. They set forth in type the sinless
sacrifice that must die in the place of, suffer in the place
of, those for whom He represented under the judgment of God's law,
God's penalty. But by their repetition over
and over and over, they could never, with those sacrifices
which they offered year by year, continually forever. Because
it was a continual sacrifice, we realize That sin was not taken
away by the blood of bulls and goats. It was over and over.
There was a continual remembrance of it every year. Now for me to have any comfort
whatsoever, I'm going to have to know that my sins have actually
been taken away. That is, that they've actually
been dealt with, removed, from me bearing the guilt of. That's what I'm talking about.
I want us to consider this morning, the scripture says that the blood
of bulls and goats could never take away sin. Why? Why could they not? And as I see why the blood of
bulls and goats couldn't take away sin, How are our sins? How have they been taken away?
Here's the first reason that the blood of bulls and goats
could never take away sin. Bulls and goats was not the nature
that sinned against God. Therefore, their blood could
not take away sin. Romans 5.12 says, Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so sin passed upon all men,
for that all have sinned." Now here's what that Scripture just
said. Man sinned against God. Man. So what blood is it going
to take to take away my sin. Man's sin. I'll tell you what
blood it's going to take. Man's. Hebrews 2.17 says, Well,
for in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His
brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. It
behooved him to be made like his brethren. An animal did not sin against
God, so an animal couldn't take away man's sin. The elect church was all ruined. in the fall of Adam and the elect
church, God's elect, God's people, God's sheep, are going to have to be redeemed
by the man, Christ Jesus. Therefore, John 1.14 says, the
Word was made flesh. Man sinned against God. Man must redeem. the elect, the fallen race born
in Adam. Here's the second reason that
the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. There
was no obedience on the part of the bulls and goats while
they were being slain. There was no obedience on their
part. No willingness on their part. Now listen to this scripture
and listen to it very carefully because this is going to settle
an issue that some men have with what happened at Calvary. Romans
5, 19 says this, For as by one man's disobedience many were
made sinners, many were placed down, many were designated, many
were set. sinners. So by the obedience
of one shall many be made, same thing, designated, set, they
shall be righteous. By one man's disobedience many
were made sinners. The basis of being made or designated
or constituted a sinner, Do you know what it is? What does it
take for a man to be made, designated a sinner? Disobedience. You say, well, what are you saying? I'm saying that the basis of
being made or declared to be a sinner is disobedience. Was Christ made a sinner at Calvary? No. No. He was made sin, and I'm going
to deal with that, Lord willing, in a minute. But when He was
made sin, was He made a sinner? No. Why? Because He was not disobedient. being made sin. The basis, listen
to this Scripture, so by the obedience, the obedience, the
obedience of one, shall many be made righteous. The basis of being declared righteous,
remember that word, I'm going to read the Scripture in just
a minute, is obedience before and toward God Almighty. Isaiah
53, verse 10 and 11. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
Him, to crush Him. He hath put Him to grief. He
hath put Him to weakness, to sickness and affliction. When
thou shalt make, when you will put or when you will set His
soul in offering for sin, His soul, it means Himself, His life,
His person, His breathing creature. He shall see His seed. He shall
prolong His days, and the pleasure, the delight of the Lord shall
prosper in His hands. He shall see the travail, the
toil, the trouble, the labor of His soul, His breathing creature, His person. And He shall be satisfied. He shall be filled with satisfaction. And by His knowledge, I'm talking
about the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it means to
know by experience. By His knowledge, what He's learned,
what He knows by experience, shall my righteous servant... What is the basis of being declared
righteous? It is obedience. My righteous
servant, my just servant, my lawful servant, my righteous
in conduct and character servant, shall my righteous servant justify
many. For he shall bear their iniquities."
There's an unusual word, bear. He shall bear their iniquities. I looked in Mr. Strong's Concordance.
And in Mr. Strong's Concordance, it says
this word bare here. Right there in the definition,
it means specifically to be gravid. Gravid. Now there's a word I
didn't know what it meant. So I'm going to go and I'm going
to try to look it up. I had to look for a while. An
old word that said Based upon the source that I had. Gravid.
Pregnant. That's what it means. He shall
bear. You take a lady that's pregnant and ask her, say, are you bearing
that child? Is that child on your shoulder?
Is that child sitting on your head? Are you bearing that child? in your pregnancy. That's what
the word means. He shall bear their iniquities. Look it up. Get your Strong's
Concordance. Look it up. It means rabid. You may have to look for a while.
That's an old word. Pregnant. He shall bear their
iniquities. Our precious Savior. was righteous in obedience. Righteous. Obedient. To be constituted a sinner by
the disobedience of one. Was he disobedient? No! No. Never no. Made sin. But the Scripture does
not say he was made a sinner. My righteous servant, obedient
servant. Oh, this is a great mystery that
I'll guarantee you I cannot set forth the depth of, but this
is the heart. If He bore my iniquity, being
the obedient, righteous, just in conduct and character servant,
I've got some hope. Can the blood of bulls and goats
take away my sin? No. Why? Obedience. John 4.34, my meat is to do the
will of Him that sent me and to finish His work. He said,
that's what I came to do. John 8.29, and He that sent me
is with me. The Father hath not left me alone,
for I do always, I do always, I do always. What? Accepted Calvary? I do always
those things that please Him. The blood of bulls and goats
could never take away sin. Why? Because they weren't my
nature and they weren't obedient. And thirdly, the blood of bulls
and goats could never take away sin because there was no actual
transfer of sin to them. Hebrews 10.1 speaks of these
sacrifices. Listen to this. For the law having
a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the
things, can never, with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. They could never, verse 4 says,
take away. What I want to know is this.
What is it going to take for me to have my sins taken away? And for God Almighty to actually
deal, there has got to be an actual transfer. They were a type, they were a
shadow, they were a picture of good things to come. But I'll
tell you this, there was one sacrifice that was made that
never needed to be repeated because you know why? It actually happened. Hebrews 10, 14 says, for by one
offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. If the actual guilt and sin would
have actually been imputed, actually been charged, actually been imparted
to that animal, it never had to
have done it again. It would have been over. if it
would have actually happened. It was a shadow. It was a picture.
It was a type. And it was over and over and
over. For by one sacrifice He hath
perfected forever. Hebrews 10 and 12. But this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever. What happened, Neal? It actually
happened. These sacrifices were God-ordained,
God-ordered, God-honoring, but they were never given to take
away sin. They were a shadow. Bulls and goats were not made
sin, but I'll tell you this, there was one that was. 2 Corinthians
5, verse 21, For he hath made him sin, who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He made him. Mr. Strong says to make or to
do. Mr. Thayer says this of that
word to make, to produce, to construct, to form, to fashion,
to do well. The word made, poeo. I don't speak Greek, I'm just
telling you, you know. It means or has to do with the
constructing or the producing anything of the creative acts
of God. Here's the same word, same exact
word used in another Scripture. Matthew 19, verse 4, And He answered
and said unto them, Have you not read that He which made them
at the beginning made them male and female." Same work. Or they actually made male and
female, really. What do you think? You know that. He was made sin. that we might be made or that
we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Scripture does
not say He was made a sinner. It doesn't say that. What constitutes
a sinner? Disobedience. And He was not
disobedient. He was the righteous servant
who made sin obediently. If he was not truly made sin,
as some say he wasn't. They said he actually wasn't
made sin. Well, my friend, there's another side to that. If he was
not actually made sin, then we're not actually made righteous in
Him, the righteousness of God in Him. If one is so, the other
is too. If there was not a divine substitution,
if I was not in Him, Paul said, I was crucified with Him. Did
it affect him personally? Paul said, I was crucified with
Him. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
Him endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God. He's the author. He's
the captain and the prince of our faith. And He's the finisher. He's the completer and the perfecter. He carried it through completely.
And He accomplished our redemption. That passage of Scripture I just
read, despising the shame. He thought down upon. or thought
against that for which he was made sin. He despised the shame. You and I don't want to be shamed. We don't want anybody to, you
know, we don't want to be exposed. We don't want to be, you know,
we don't want to be shamed in front of anybody. He thought
down on. He despised the shame. He thought
against. He did it willingly. You understand
what I'm trying to say? I'm trying to say it in such
a way. He made sin. Not made a sinner. He came to save sinners. He was
made sin. A sinner is one that is disobedient
before God and He wasn't. He died. And three days later,
the thrice holy God raised Him from the dead, accepted, satisfied,
justified, and we in Him. The blood of bulls and goats
never take away sin. There's one. There's one that can take away
sin. One. He who was made sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him." Pet doctrine? Pet doctrine? As I said at the
beginning of this message, I would never speak disrespectfully like
that. But the heart of my hope, substitution,
that He bore my iniquity, that He was made sin that I might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. Yes, that's my hope. The Lord Jesus Christ who put
away my guilt. Amen.