On the Day of Atonement, it was
one of the most important days for the children of Israel. On
this day, all eyes were focused on the High Priest. On this day,
all eyes were focused on the offerings that the High Priest
was offering. These at high priest and these
offerings typified the one offering of our great high priest, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the lamb of God. And on that day, as they look
to him, they weren't looking and setting themselves up as
kings and as judges. to discern whether or not they
would accept God. That wasn't the case. They were
bowing, waiting, trusting God would accept them. You see, God
doesn't offer us something in hopes that we will accept it.
God has provided His offering in the person of His Son, and
He accepts him, and He accepts those who come to God in Him. Scriptures don't speak as men
speak. Men speak of you accepting Jesus. He's not offering you anything. Scriptures speak of men receiving
the gift of God. something already finished and
already done, that you simply, with open hands, nothing in your
hands, bringing no price to God, you simply receive it. And on
this day of atonement, all eyes were on the high priest in hopes
that God would accept them. Alright, we've looked at the
high priest, who did this work totally alone, who God chose,
who laid aside His royal garments and went into the holiest of
holies with that linen garment, a picture of Christ coming to
this earth, taking on human flesh, coming in the humility of our
flesh and working out the righteousness God required of His people, laying
down His life at Calvary and entering into the presence of
God at the holiest of holies, making full, complete, reconciliation
for the sin of all those that were given Him. We beheld the
sin offering which was chosen of God, ordained of God, just
in every way offered according to what God ordained, how God
said it would be. how it should be done. And so
it was with Christ. He chose Christ, who is our lamb,
the sin offering to God, who offered himself as a lamb without
spot and without blemish. He is that sin offering. He did
everything in accordance with God's will. Everything in providence
was ordained in accordance with what God had predetermined to
be done, even the wrath of men. so that we can see that everything,
just as they cast lots, God ordered them to cast lots, everything,
that was the disposing of the Lord, the Lord declaring, I'm
choosing whom I will, who's going to be my sin offering, and that
is His Son, the Lamb of God. Today, we're going to look at
that second goat, which is the scapegoat. Alright, look now
at Leviticus 16. Verse 8, the Lord said, and Aaron
shall cast lots upon the two goats. One lot for the Lord. That was the sin offering we
looked at last week. The other lot for the scapegoat. You've heard the saying. A scapegoat. He's looking for
a scapegoat. This is where this phrase comes
from. The scapegoat. Now, we're going to look at verse
21 and verse 22. First of all, what we're going
to see in verse 21 is the imputation of the sins of God's people to
Christ. We're going to see this typified.
The imputation of the sin of God's people to Christ. Verse
21, 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, and all their sins. putting them
upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand
of a fit man into the wilderness." Now the Lord Jesus Christ, pictured
here by this high priest, He took all of the sins, the iniquities,
of the children of Israel, the true chosen spiritual children
of Israel. He willingly took them all Himself. And God put them all upon Him
just as this high priest did here. And all the transgressions
and all their sins was put upon Christ Jesus the Lord. Let me
show you some scriptures. And I want you to turn to each
of these scriptures this morning. Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah chapter
53. Verse 4. Isaiah 53 verse 4. Surely He, Christ Jesus
the Lord, the scapegoat. Surely he hath
borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem
him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our inequities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord hath laid on him. The Lord hath laid on
him. Just as that high priest put
his hand on the head of that goat and confessed all the sins
of the children of Israel, the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all. Alright, turn over to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5 verse 21. The all that is described here,
us all, it's defined by what Christ accomplished. By what
Christ accomplished. We'll see that in a moment. Look
at 2 Corinthians 5.21. For He, God, hath made Him, Christ,
to be sin for us, who knew no sin, Christ is the one who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. All the sins of the all, whoever
this all is, all their sins were put upon Christ. All the sins of all that is mentioned
in this text, were all put upon Christ Jesus. He was made sin. Made sin. That's the first point. Imputation
of our sins to Christ. Let's look at the second point.
Back in our text, Leviticus 16, verse 22. And this tells us what
was the result of what this scapegoat accomplished. Leviticus 16, verse
22. and the goat shall bear upon
him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited. And he shall let go the goat
in the wilderness. Alright, turn with me to Hebrews
chapter 9. Let's see what The Gospel declares
to us that this scapegoat means when he bore all these sins,
all these iniquities, the goat shall bear upon him all their
iniquities. Not any left, not anything. All
their iniquities were on this scapegoat. And he bare them all
to a land not inhabited. Hebrews 9.28 says, So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Where did they go? They've been
completely removed, completely put out of sight, completely
taken care of, by the scapegoat, completely taken away by Christ
Jesus the Lord. They're gone. Now you keep bearing
in mind here now, the children are sitting there looking to
see, will God accept us in this land? Will He accept us? Not will we accept Him, will
He accept us? And all of this was done. All
of this was accomplished Before as yet the high priest came out
to the people and informed the people, God has accepted you. It was all done beforehand. It
was done and completely accomplished for somebody by God, by His Lamb,
by Christ Jesus before He ever came to the people for whom it
was accomplished and said, it's accomplished. It's done. And
that's what God teaches us when He comes in the Spirit of His
grace through this Word of the Gospel. And He, you know He has
entered into the heart of a sinner whenever He turns everything
right side up. And we no longer are ashamed
of our sin. The reason we're ashamed of our,
the evidence we're ashamed of our sin is we won't confess,
my will is absolutely, utterly in bondage and helpless to save
me. We won't confess. We're ashamed
to say that until God comes. We will not say, I'm absolutely,
utterly in need of God's high priest, of God's sin offering,
of God's scapegoat to completely, totally remove my sin. We're
ashamed to confess that. We will not confess. Salvation
is absolutely, totally, always and forever of the Lord alone. And He gives it to whomsoever
He will. We will not confess that because
if we do, we have to confess our nothingness. Until God comes
and reveals what Christ has accomplished, what He has accomplished in His
Son, we're ashamed of Our sin, we're ashamed to say what we
are, and we're ashamed to confess that all glory belongs to God.
We won't do it. This is our rebellion. This is
what sin did to us. This is where sin left us. It
left us proud. It left us kings. It made us
think in our minds we're kings and princes and judges, and we
have a right to accept or reject. And it all hinges on our acceptance
or our rejection. until God comes in and turns
things right side up and makes us to see you're absolutely dependent
upon God accepting you. And if he does, it's gonna be
because he chose to do so. He sent forth his high priest,
his lamb, his scapegoat to accomplish the work that's required in order
for him to justly in a holy manner accept you. And then He comes
forth to everyone for whom that is accomplished and He reveals
by giving them a new nature and a new heart being born again
of the Spirit of God. That old fleshly man of Adam
profits you absolutely nothing. And He makes you to behold in
spirit and in truth what Christ has accomplished and then all
those works and all that will and all that self-effort you've
been hanging on to, you drop it and your hands become empty.
And that's when God causes us to receive an absolutely fully
accomplished free gift that He accomplished. And now you're
ashamed of yourself, you're ashamed of that sinful will, you're ashamed
of that desire to have preeminence, you're ashamed of everything
you are. And now you want God to have all the glory. That's
the difference. That's the difference. We stop
saying I will, I will, I will. God has, God shall, God will. That's right. Alright, let's
see what He reveals to us when He regenerates us and calls us
by His grace. When this high priest came out,
what do we see typified that they were made to understand?
This is what every redeemed child of God is made to understand
when Christ enters into the heart. First of all, Hebrews 10.14.
We're made to see that the guilt of our sin has been put away
by Christ Himself. Look at Hebrews 10.14, for by
one offering He hath perfected. You didn't. Your receiving this
gift didn't do anything. It was already done. It was already
done. I've used this illustration for
you before. When you get a birthday gift,
somebody went and they chose that gift, they purchased that
gift, they paid everything that was required of that gift, they
wrapped that gift, they brought that gift to you, and they handed
that gift to you, and all you did was open up your hand and
receive it. That's salvation. That's the gift of God. The gift
of God. And you discover that by one
offering, Christ hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.
Your guilt is gone. Hold your place there in Hebrews
10, 14. Look at Romans 8, 1. Romans 8, 1. Here's the second
thing God makes you to behold. Romans 8, chapter 1. Chapter
8, verse 1. All the punishment due to you. Not only is your guilt gone,
all the punishment that was due to you All the condemnation that
was due to you is gone. Romans 8.1, There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. How did
they get there? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1.30,
Of God are you in Christ Jesus. It says here, There's no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit." How did you start walking after the Spirit?
Paul said, of God are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made
unto you wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
And the reason it's that way is that no flesh should glory
in His presence. None. He that glorieth, let him
glory in the Lord. God did all this. God did all
this. He condemned sin in His flesh. He was made sin and condemned
of God Himself. And He bore the condemnation
that for as many as God gave Him, He bore their condemnation. Alright, here's the third thing.
Your guilt's gone, that's what God makes manifest. Because Christ
took, He was made sin. and He perfected His people forever.
You know that your punishment's gone because Christ condemned
sin in His own flesh. He was made a curse for His people.
And here's the third thing. Oh, glorious good news. Now,
look at Jeremiah chapter 50. Jeremiah chapter 50. This is
the third thing He makes you to know. God will not remember
your sin ever again. Not any of it. Past, present,
or future. He will not remember it. Look
here, Jeremiah 50 verse 20. In those days, that's in the
day Christ came and accomplished what we're talking about here.
In those days and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity
of Israel shall be sought for. The accuser of the brethren is
seeking for it continually. Satan is seeking for it continually.
Men who preach man's way, man's will, man's works are seeking
for it constantly. It will be sought for and there
shall be none. And the sins of Judah and they
shall not be found. Why not? For I will pardon them
whom I reserve. whom I reserve." When did He
reserve them? Before the world began. They've always been in
Christ. Christ put the sin away, took
it away into a land not inhabited, and God said, and I will pardon
them whom I reserve. Their sin won't be found. All
right, let me show you a couple of more verses. Psalm 103. Psalm
103, verse 12. Let's start at verse 10. He hath
not dwelt with us after our sins. This is what you're going to
discover if God makes this revelation in your heart. He hath not dealt
with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy
toward them that fear Him. You know, as far as I know, we
haven't yet, in all our exploration in the space, we haven't come
to the end of it yet, have we? You won't ever come to the end
of God's mercy either. Never. Look at this. As far as the east is from the
west, if you go east today, you strike out traveling east, you
know what you'll never find? West. And if you strike out traveling
west, you know what you'll never find? East. Just won't. If you go north, eventually you're
gonna start going south. If you go south, eventually you're
gonna start going north. If you go east, you're never
gonna stop, start going west. Now listen, as far as the east
is from the west. So far has He removed our transgressions
from us. Who did it? Well, my exercise
in my will and accepting this Jesus that the preacher begged
me to accept, that's what did it. Let's read that again. As
far as the East is from the West, so far hath He removed our transgressions
from us. The faith God gives lays hold
of Him who has justified and continually justifieth the ungodly. That's what faith does. All right,
one last verse, Hebrews 10. 10-15, what's it going to take
to make us know all this? What's it going to take for us
to understand this? Hebrews 10-15. And to rest here. To rest here. Hebrews 10-15. Whereof, these things we've been
talking about. Guilt's put away. Condemnation's
put away. God won't remember the sins anymore.
Whereof, the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. God has declared
it. God the Father, God the Son has
declared it. In the person of Christ Jesus
it's been declared. In His Word it's been declared.
Throughout all the ages, throughout all the witnesses of God's saints
that have been saved, it's been declared. I'm declaring it to
you now. You're compassed about by a great
cloud of witnesses. But here's what it's going to
take right here. The Holy Ghost also is a witness
to us. He got to enter in. God's got
to speak to the heart that He's made new. For after that He said
before, this is what He promised way back there, and He makes
it apparent. Salvation is by promise. This
is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts. What are these laws? It's this gospel I've been declaring
to you. It's all these great and precious promises that I'm
declaring to you. These are his laws. This is what
he said. It's what he's promised. I'll
put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write
them. Not on tablets graven with stone. Not on creeds and confessions
and those things. Not in all our notes. In the heart He's going to write
it. Then you'll know it. And this is what He declares
to you. Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. And that's what will give you
the boldness, the liberty, the right, the privilege to enter
into God's presence, having your conscience purged, the inner
man purged, your bodies washed with pure water, that tabernacle,
that blood applied to the tabernacle. to come to God and to thank Him
and offer the calves of your lips, the sacrifices of praise
unto God, and even that will be received by God as perfectly
holy without sin at all, even though sin is mixed with it,
without any sin at all, because the blood also was put on the
altar, and Christ is our altar, And it's in His one body that
He receives each of our bodies individually, perfect and holy
and acceptable unto God. That's how God's going to accept
you. That's how He's going to accept you. If He does. If He
does. Christ Jesus finished this work. And He has made as many as God
gave Him accepted of God. He has. God freely gives His
children faith. Witnessing this in our hearts
through the Holy Spirit, He gives us faith to believe and to rest
in Christ Jesus, who we are persuaded has done everything that is required
by God for our complete and total acceptance with God. And we rest
in Him. He's all our hope and all our
stay. I pray today, this is my prayer
for you today, that God would bear witness of this in your
inner man, purge your conscience, and give you this gift of faith
that you might let go of everything else and freely receive this
free, perfect gift that He accomplished. That's my prayer for you. Amen.