In Genesis 3 we read of man rejecting God's grace, a grace that sustained
him. and choosing to look to get to God through his
own wisdom and his own strength. And that's been going on ever
since Genesis 3. Man in his natural religion trying
to approach God. And even those that say there's
no God, we know from the word of God that he set eternity in
the hearts of men. that they carry a conscience,
a knowledge, that knowledge of good and evil that they wanted
so desperately to live by. So you even find people that
say there's no God working in some way to enter the next life. And yet sin inhabits every part
of our being, everything we do, everything we think, everything
we feel, and it even inhabits our most
religious and righteous works. So no matter what we do to approach
God, we are all unclean. We're all unfit to enter into
a relationship with an infinitely holy God. But in John 17 and John's gospel,
we've been encouraged again and again and again to ask God, to
just come to him and ask him. And in John 17, We have this
very intimate view into the union between Father and Son and the
basis on which we can come to Him and ask. We're given a personal
view into the heart of that relationship, into that everlasting covenant
of grace. The only hope that we have of
entering God's presence And it's that view into that intimacy
between father and son that gives us an amazing clear view into
the eternal intercession of our Saviour on behalf of his church. Now we have two amazing and very,
very, very deep passages before us today, but we're just going
to read them. And as Angus said, see where the Lord takes us.
Leviticus 16, our first passage, it starts with a need for complete
cleansing. In fact, it shows us the And in our second passage, Hebrews
10, it shows us the fulfilment, the eternal fulfilment of our
need. So we'll start with Leviticus
16, and here God, through the law, is instructing Israel regarding
the way that they approach God and the necessary cleansing of
their sin. before even entering his presence. He's also teaching him reverence,
and we'll see why soon as we come to it. Now there is, as
I said, too much for one sitting, but this is rich in illustration. And there's illustrations here
of our great need to be completely cleansed of our sin. There's
illustrations here of the immovable justice of our great and holy
God. There's also illustrations of
the everlasting and effective love and grace of our triune
God towards wretched sinners like
ourselves. And there's also, wonderfully,
illustrations of our Saviour's incredible as the church's great high priest. So I just want us to read scripture. We'll start at Leviticus 16.1
and I'll make a few comments, but it's amazing just how clear
and logical these things are when we just read them. So let's pray first and then
we'll just start. Heavenly Father, your word is
locked up to us unless you, in mercy and grace, open it for
us. Help us to realise that reading
scripture, Heavenly Father, is just a wonderful opportunity
that you've given us. Please, Father, as we read, let
your word just pour down over us like rain. And if you're pleased,
Heavenly Father, cause that rain to sink in deep again and again
and again. The miracle of your love in your
son for us. The amazing work, finished work,
completed work, eternal and everlasting work that he's achieved on our
behalf. Father, as we read through this,
open our eyes again to the glory of your son. as our great high
priest. We pray in his name and for your
glory, Saint Father. Amen. Okay, verse one. And the Lord spoke unto Moses
after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they offered before
the Lord. So this begins here, I want you
to see this, this begins with fleshly religion, false religion,
with men as probably very passionate men, very sincere men, probably
know a lot of scripture. And yet it was strange for the
Lord. So it begins with false religion and they died. And the Lord said unto Moses,
speak unto Aaron thy brother. that he come not at all times
into the holy place, that place of union with God, within the
veil before the mercy seat which is upon the ark, that he die
not. You see, the Lord's instilling
reverence or reinstilling reverence and respect and fear in men for
meeting with God. They become complacent. We become
complacent. And we think that we can approach
God on the basis of our own wisdom and words. And we can die. Same guy here
is here in our church today. And he can kill men in a moment.
And why? For I will appear within the
veil before the mercy seat. Thus Aaron, Thus shall Aaron
come into the holy place, with a young bullock for a sin offering,
and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen
coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and
shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre
shall he be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore
shall he wash his flesh in water. He must be clean. This high priest
must be clean. And so put them on. And he shall
take of the congregation of the children of Israel, two kids
of the gates for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock
of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement
for himself and for his house. And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord
at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Again, this
is the meeting point between men and God, the place that since
Genesis 3, men have been trying to get back to. And Aaron shall cast lots. He's
entrusting all wisdom, he's entrusting all choice to God and it's God's
right and God's prerogative So we cast lots upon the two goats,
one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. Now,
in case you don't know, scapegoats, often we use it in society as
an excuse, but the reality is it's a substitute. It's a representative. It's the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. All these things are pointing
to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it's a replacement
for us. because we're too sinful to enter
the presence of God. And Aaron shall bring the goat
upon which the Lord's lot fell and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot
fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the
Lord to make atonement, an atonement with him and to let him go for
a scapegoat into the wilderness. And Aaron shall bring the bullock
for the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an offering
for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of
the sin offering, which is for himself. You notice this high
priest must first be cleansed in himself before he can represent
others. And he should take a censer full
of the burning coals of the fire from the altar before the Lord.
These represent the wrath of God against our sin. But look
at this, and his hands full of sweet incense. Now there's a
particular mix for this incense that God chose. And this incense is beaten small,
it's fine. And when it's thrown on these
coals, it covers them completely. This incense is the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. You can read 2 Corinthians 2,
it's the sweet savour of our perfect Lord on our behalf before God. And
so he brings it within the veil, and he shall put the incense
upon the fire before the Lord. And why does he do it? That the
cloud of the incense may cover, completely cover, the mercy seat
that is upon the testimony. And the testimony is the law
of God against our sin. And he does it that he die. And he shall take of the blood
of the bullock and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy
seat eastward. And before the mercy seat shall
he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times." Now
that's a number of affection. It's a number that's absolute.
It's a number that's complete. See this one man must first cleanse
himself before he can represent others. But once he's clean, once he's clean, then he can
make atonement for others. Verse 15, then shall he kill
the goat of the sin offering. That is for the people. And bring
his blood within the vial and do with that blood as he did
with the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it upon the mercy
seat and before the mercy seat. And he shall make an atonement
for the holy place. And why? because of the uncleanness
of the children of Israel and because of their transgressions
in all their sin. And so shall he do for the tabernacle
of the congregation that remaineth among them in the midst of their
uncleanness. Now, it's really important to
know to you that even our religion needs to be cleansed. Everything
we touch, we pollute. Which is why verse 17, and there
shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goes
in to make atonement in the holy place. No man until he come out
and have made, past tense, an atonement for himself and for
his household and for all. of Israel. So one man alone representing
all true Israel, he's the one that must finish this work. Verse 18, and he shall go out
unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make atonement
for it, and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of
the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar
round about. And he shall sprinkle of the
blood upon it with his finger again, seven times, perfection,
absolute, complete, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness
of the children of Israel. The other thing to notice here
is every one of these implements, the horn, the altar, the goats,
the bullock, everything is an illustration of something much
greater, of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we'll see that
as we move on, but it's just good to know that every one of
these things in some way primarily is just a picture of one person. Verse 20, and when he had made
an end of reconciling the holy place and the tabernacle of the
congregation and the altar, he shall bring the live goat and
Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat
and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of
Israel. and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them
upon the head of the goat. So here we have a symbolisation
obviously But it's a picture of a very real, absolute, and
complete transference of all sin from the children of Israel,
those chosen children of God, every sin of every one of them,
and transferred to our Saviour alone. and shall send him away by the
hand of a fit man into the wilderness, and the goat shall bear upon
him the iniquities unto a land not inhabited, and he shall let
go the goat in the wilderness. This goat is never to be seen
again. But do you know what's amazing? Those sins. figuratively are
never to be seen again. And again, we'll see why and
what this is picturing as we move along. And Aaron shall come
into the tabernacle of the congregation and shall put off the linen garments
which he put on when he went into the holy place and shall
leave them there. And he shall wash his flesh with
water in the holy place and put on his garments and come forth
and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the
people and make an atonement for himself and for the people. And the fat of the sin offering
shall be burnt upon the altar, and he that let go the goat of
the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh
in water, and afterward come into the camp. And the bullock
for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose
blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place,
shall one carry forth without the camp. So we have a picture
here of that sin, that horrific sin that infested everything
about us, everything we do, everything we think. The picture is it's
completely eradicated. completely atoned for. And this shall be a statute forever
unto you, that in the second month and on the 10th day of
the month, ye shall afflict your souls. I just wanna make a few,
say a few words about that. We're reminded in Ezekiel 36
that as much as we're saved, as much as we know our salvation,
We won't be ashamed of our sin. See, we afflict our souls, and
we remember our sin, but we also remember our great need of a
salvation, and more to the point, we remember our great Saviour
who's provided that. But it humbles us before God,
doesn't it? We don't go in before God on
our merits of our own works and wisdom, and we don't go before
God expecting a reward for our activities or expecting to shine
brighter than anyone else. We should go in and seek the
lowest position. We know more about the sin of
our own hearts than anyone else does, and God knows more about
our sin than anyone else does too. So we afflict our souls and we
do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country or
a stranger that sojourneth among you. For on that day shall the
priest make atonement for you, to cleanse you that you may be
cleaned from all your sins before the Lord. And it shall be a Sabbath
of rest. See, we don't work, it's rest,
but it's symbolic again. Why? What are we picturing? We're picturing resting in faith,
in a finished work of our Saviour on our behalf. Leaning back upon
Him. in every facet of our life. Now, he's got to do that in us.
He's got to work that in us. We can't do it by ourselves.
And we just pray, help our unbelief, Father, because that's the only
way to be in relationship with our God. He accepts a broken
heart and a contrite spirit. So it shall be a Sabbath of rest
unto you, and you shall afflict your souls by a statute forever. And the priest whom he shall
anoint and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office
in his father's stead. Again, this is a ministry passed
from God to his son primarily, but who picks men to preach the
gospel? does not mean our Lord does. He picks the men that will stand
before others on His behalf. In his father's stead shall make
atonement, and put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments. And he shall make an atonement
for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the
tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar. And he shall
make atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the
congregation." Again, everything. He does everything himself. And
it's comprehensive. And amazingly, we finished with
a reference to the everlasting covenant, even though this is
implemented year after year with these men, there's a greater
reference here. And I want you to see it because
we'll see more of it in a minute. And this shall be an everlasting
statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of
Israel for all their sins once a year. it is the Lord commanded Moses.
So we have here, it's law, it's in the law, it's implemented
through the law, it's a symbolic and figurative reference to our
great Saviour. But it does show our deep need
to be cleansed of all our sin. It shows the depths, something
of the depths and the intricacies of our sin, even in our religious
worship. Our God sees all. He sees into the feelings of
our hearts. He sees into our thoughts. He knows more about our sin than
any of us. And he looks, and it must be
all eradicated. Our religious activities just
cannot cut it. They might cut it before men,
but not before our Lord. See, the law was never, ever
given to make us clean before God. The purpose of the law was
to reveal our uncleanness. And as we saw in Leviticus 16,
even our most sincere efforts in religion They're just filthy
rags before God. We desperately need a Saviour,
one that can truly purge us of all our sins, infinitely and
eternally. So if you turn in your Bibles
to Hebrews 10, we'll just see what the Holy
Spirit has to say here. And again, it's very, very clear. We say here often scripture interprets
scripture and it's good to remember that there are no contradictions
in scripture. You'll hear it in religion, especially
refined religion. You'll hear that there's grey
areas where it's only for God to know and not for us. And it
suggests that God writes his word here and doesn't know how
to communicate with his people. Scripture does interpret scripture.
And while there are some very obscure references in scripture
sometimes, they need to be studied. and considered more deeply sung
are very clear. And here in Hebrews 10, we have
a very clear fulfillment of what we just read about in Leviticus
16. And we have that in our great
savior and king, our Lord Jesus Christ. So again, we'll just
read scripture and say what the Lord does in it all. So let's start at verse one.
For the law, So the law actually includes Leviticus 16 that we
just read. I just want to remind you of
that. For the law having a shadow, an illustration, it's a figurative
pointing to something greater, a shadow of good things to come
and not the very image of the things. can never, with those sacrifices,
with that religious practice, never, which they offered year
by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. Religion cannot make us perfect. Verse two, for then would they
not have, and I want you to listen to this, this is a very simple,
Very simple but very effective argument that he lays down here.
For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers
once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices, there
is a remembrance again. Remember that afflicting of our
souls from Leviticus 16. There's a remembrance again,
made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. It's symbolic,
isn't it? We need a flesh and blood representative,
a human representative. So let's read about him. Verse
five, whereof, when he, our Lord Jesus Christ, comes, in his flesh,
in his humility, when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice
and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared
for me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. And just in case you don't know,
that word means he's not satisfied. It cannot atone for our sin,
it's symbolic. And then said I, lo, I come in
the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will. That's the will of his father.
But what is the will of his father? That we believe, that we walk
in faith, that we commit our all to him and rest in his sovereign
works in our hearts, in our religion, and in our lives. To do thy will, O God, verse
eight. Above, when he said, sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and offerings for sin thou wouldest
not, neither had pleasure therein which are offered by the law. That's what religion does. Then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will, O God, he taketh away the first. Just pause that for a minute,
he takes it away. Law, legalism, the knowledge
of good and evil as a way to get to God, he takes that all
away. We're talking about covenants
here, he takes it away. And he has a purpose. He takes
it away. He fulfills it to take it away. But his purpose is that he may
establish the second. So we're talking about covenants
here and he gives the title of first in this instance to the
covenant because It was a covenant that Israel
entered into because of their pride, but it was symbolic in
itself to represent our own pride, leaving the garden and rejecting
God, throwing His grace in His face and thinking that there's
something we can gain for ourselves without Him. We should be ashamed. Sorry. So he takes away the first, that
he can establish the second. By the which will, again this
same will of God, and look what God's will is, that we are sanctified
through the offering of the blood of Jesus Christ, once for all. As we said and as this passage
says, men go back and back and back and back and there's no
real atonement for sin, there's no real relief from the consciousness
of our sins upon ourselves, but this man, this man did it all
perfectly and eternally on behalf of his people. And he's talking
there about all in regard to all that are chosen of God. Again, this isn't a, broad idea
that the Lord died for men, every man, and just gave every man
an opportunity to exercise, again, that same wisdom and that same
strength to get back into God's presence. He's talking about doing the
work for people chosen of God in eternity, and doing that work
completely so that they can enter into a relationship with their
Father in heaven. But this man, oh, sorry. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down at the right hand of
God. He sat down, it's a sign of a finished work, and the right
hand of God is a sign of an accepted work. From henceforth expecting,
again believing his father, till his enemies be made his footstool. for by one offering, this is
amazing, by that one offering, he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified, them that are chosen again. Whereof the
Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. Now he's not just talking
about scripture, we have a testimony here before us from the Holy
Spirit, but look what he goes on to say, because it's about
our conversions as well. For after that he had said before,
and this is a reading again of that everlasting covenant, this
is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts, and in their minds I will write them, and their sins and
iniquities more. Religion just can't do
that, no matter how hard we try. Now where remission of these
is, there is no more offering for sin. We don't need to bring
works before God to impress Him. That's not our motivation. Obligation
is not our motivation. The Lord moves in the hearts
of His people and He motivates So let's go on and this is, if
I was to emphasise anything, this is what I want to emphasise.
We left the garden, we were driven out of the garden, rebelling
and rejecting God's grace. And there has only ever been
one way to enter his presence. So let's read about it. Verse
19, having therefore. So this is common sense. This
is again a good reason, a reasonable argument. Having therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter. That turns Genesis 3 on its head,
doesn't it? Having boldness to enter into
the holiest, and how? Not by our religious activities,
by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath,
notice that past tense, consecrated for us, through the veil that
is to say, his flesh. We have a representative, a human
representative. constantly before our Father
in heaven, and we're hidden in him. And having a high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, being
completely convinced, in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed
with pure water. So let us hold fast the profession
of our faith. See, this is about faith. It's
not about works. It's not about activities. It's
not about intentions. It's about faith. Without wavering, and why? Because he who is faithful, he
is faithful that promised. And let us consider, now I want
you to look at this too as we move on, let us consider one
another. It's about encouraging that faith
in others. We encourage each other to provoke
unto love, love for Christ, love for his church, and that's our
height motivation unto good works. And again, you hear a lot about
good works, but there's nothing good, we've just seen it in the
Leviticus, nothing good about us at all. These works are the
work of the gospel, our declarations, our encouragements, and even
that's purged by the blood of our Saviour. But that's our good
works. And not forsaking the assembly
of ourselves together as the manner of some is. You know,
when I was in, especially in reformed religion, I had that
one plaited into me whip really well and we could get people
to move to church and make them feel guilty and get them into
church and all the rest of it. That's not what that verse is
saying. If anyone brings that verse to you, just don't listen
to them. It's about our obligations and
our love and our care for each other. It's about our unity in
encouraging people in the gospel, encouraging one another, strengthening
one another, reminding each other in our lowest points, just to
keep our eyes fixed above and look heavenward on our Saviour
who stands every moment on our behalf before God. I mean, this
is what church is really about, an encouragement. Coming in and
encouraging each other, whether you stand in the pulpit or sit
at the back of the church, it's all about encouraging each other.
And amazingly, at the same time, we're being encouraged too. And why? And we come to this
verse, and I wanna talk about it a little bit, but again, this
is talking about faith. For if we sin willfully, and
I'm not going to, there's a bucket load of sins, and all of us sin
willfully every day, every moment. We're just shocking. But this is talking about unbelief.
This is talking about returning to the religion of the world,
returning to Babylon, that great harlot, looking to our own wisdom
and our own works, This is talking about faith and unbelief. And
please, just read this part of the passage with me and you'll
see that it's very clear. For if we sin willfully after
we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for
of judgment and fiery indignation. which will devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sore a
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath
trodden underfoot the Son of God? our gospel, rejected the
gospel, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, that everlasting
covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an
unholy thing, and Angus spoke earlier, a common thing, something that's not revered,
not hallowed, not respected and not feared and not appreciated. I'm sorry. I'll be glad to get
these glasses off. Free us, concentrate on the blood
of the covenant. We are with you as saints by non-holy name.
Sorry. Again, it's rejecting God all over again. It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Do you take
that seriously? When you come here, do you realise
that we're meeting in the presence of that same God? Do you fear
God? I'm not questioning you personally,
but you should question yourself. When the Lord did amazing work,
one of the biggest things, the biggest issue for me was just
being fed here with the Lord. I didn't care what men thought
about me anymore in a lot of ways. It was too urgent and it
was too serious and the gravity of it was too great. Is it a fearful thing? But call to remembrance the former
days in which you were illuminated. You endured a great fight of
afflictions and they come from within, they come from without
and they certainly come from Satan's hand if the Lord allows
it. great fight of affliction, partly while you were made a
gang stop, both by reproaches and afflictions, and we've all
been ridiculed to some degree for our Christianity. It's a
promise. It's a promise from the Lord,
but it strengthens us, and it strengthens us especially in
our faith. And partly whilst you become
companions of them that were so used. For you had compassion
on me in my bonds and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods."
And again, I just wanna pause there, goods, things that are
precious to you. Things that you cared about in
your flesh and you don't care anymore. as such in comparison
to the gospel. And so those goods could very
well mean our esteem before men, our pride, our status. They're things that are precious
to us. And they didn't mean square to us when we met the Lord. Because we knew in ourselves
that you have a better and an enduring substance We often go
back to the religion of the world because we're seeking something
for ourselves. That's a promise from God. There's
only one motive in our heart and it's either God or it's our
own flesh. And you get down to the heart
of it, you'll find that that's the truth. So he says, cast not
away, therefore your confidence. Again, this is faith, faith in
Christ, which hath great recompense of reward. This reward's eternal. It's infinite. For you have need of patience
that after you have done the will of God, again, what's the
will of God? It's to believe. This is about
believing. You might receive the promise. And look at that, smack bang,
we're right here again in John 7 and three, what's the promise?
It's that life, that life eternal that comes from relationship
with our God, from him living within us, because we've been
cleansed of our sin in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's that eternal union with
God. Verse 37, for yet a little, oh,
sorry, Verse 37, forget a little while and he
that shall come will come. Again, do you believe that? And
he won't, Terry. His timing's perfect, always
perfect. But now in this world, the just
shall live, not by our own activities, not by our religion, not by our
law keeping, not by our good works, that just shall live by
faith. But if any man draw back, and
this is a warning, this is a serious warning, and please see that
this is a warning about unbelief, about that rejection of this
one and only way to God. to religion, to law, to the world,
my soul shall have no pleasure in him. And then it's only appropriate
to finish on one of those beautiful buts of the Lord, because whether
we draw back or not, we naturally draw away from God every moment.
So there's only one way we don't draw back to perdition. And that's because of God's activity
in our heart, that commitment the Lord Jesus has made. So this
is and has been all about faith, there's no doubt. But I want
you to notice Leviticus 16 started with false religion. Aaron's two sons. And here we
finish with a warning again, a strict and severe warning about
returning to the religion of the world, about letting go of our faith in our
saviour, looking to this world, to ourselves, to anything but
him for all that we need. As I said earlier, John 17 is
this incredible, intimate, intimate view into the heart of the everlasting
covenant, into that relationship. And amazingly, we'll get to see
it played out as, Lord willing, as we go along in John 17. But
if you want a quick look at it, just look at Revelation 5. The
whole epicentre of heaven is focused on a human that stands
in the midst of the throne that's wounded for our sakes. And those wounds stand forever
and they plead forever and they argue, you know, this law that's
been finished in Christ, completely finished in Christ, is one of
our greatest advocates in the world now. Because if anyone
wants to look at us, they have to look at our saviour. And our
saviour sits in heaven at the right hand of God. He's finished
the work and he is accepted. So this isn't a clear encouragement
to faith, but it's also a clear warning to those that have turned
back. See, this is the only way to be in relationship with our
God. May our God strengthen our faith.
May He move in our hearts to strengthen each other's faith. And at the end of the day, may
He cause us to see and to savour the glory of His Son, our great
Saviour, our great High Priest. Amen. Let's pray.