May it please the Lord to bless
us together this evening as we consider his word. Let us turn
to the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, chapter nine, and we'll
read verses 13 and 14. The epistle of Paul to the Hebrews,
chapter nine, reading verses 13 and 14. For if the blood of
bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer spring cleanly unclean,
sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, 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 to
serve the living God. We are thankful that we have
the epistle to the Hebrews, which explains to us many of those
occasions, those ceremonies, which existed, which were ordained
by God in the Old Testament times, but were all shrouded really
in mystery to a certain extent. And it was only by divine revelation
that the children of Israel, the church of God in those days
was able to perceive the blessed glory which was shown forth in
the illustrations of those various ceremonies of the Old Testament
law. And so today we are wonderfully
privileged to have the New Testament, and especially perhaps the epistle
of Paul to the Hebrews, which does give us a wonderful insight
as to what those Old Testament scenes depicted, and how, of
course, they all pointed to Christ. Israel of old were looking forward
to the Messiah. They were looking forward to
that day when those mysteries would be revealed to them. But now today we can look back,
and we can realize that through the life, death, resurrection,
and ascension of the Savior, they are revealed unto us in
great measure. And yet, of course, there is
still that great need for the Spirit of God to enter into our
hearts, as to reveal the truth. We might describe it as that
deep which couches beneath, as the word of God speaks, of these
great things. But what a favour it is if you
and I have been given that spiritual sight to appreciate the glory
that is revealed in these truths which are contained in the epistle
of Paul to the Hebrews. Well, in these two verses the
Apostle speaks of the ceremonies in two aspects and then directs
us straight to the Lord Jesus Christ and joins them together
with these words, how much more? Because in the Old Testament
situations They were not clear. And so he says, how much more? For if the blood of bulls and
of goats and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean
sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, 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 to
serve the living God. Now, we do have the Old Testament
view to encourage us, because those things which are spelt
out in the Old Testament do actually give us a very detailed view
of the glorious work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we look
back, may we be blessed to see something of the glory of it.
And so the Apostle tells us, he says, neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. And
that directs us immediately to the Holy of Holies, where the
high priest was only allowed to enter in once a year, and
that not without blood. And there had to be the slain
animal, the blood shed and sprinkled upon the mercy seat before the
high priest was able to enter into that place with blood for
the others to atone for the sins of Israel. But the picture of
course for us today is that the Lord Jesus Christ He has entered
into the holy place, the holy of holies, heaven itself. And there today, he sits interceding
for his people. How did he enter in? Through
his most precious blood. Because he satisfied the holy
law of God. And he gave his life as that
great sacrifice for sin. and those things which had been
portrayed were now fulfilled. And today how thankful we should
be that we have a blessed Redeemer seated in glory, one to whom
we can come and through whom we can approach unto our Father
in heaven. Now says the apostle, if the
blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling
the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh. That
was the situation which existed. There was the blood of bulls
and of goats, which was shed. Animals were slain. And there
was that blood which was shed, which directed us and the church
to those who were justified through this shed blood. and how necessary
and how wonderful it was. Indeed, the apostle, when he
wrote to the church of Rome, he pointed this out and he spoke
in these words in the fifth chapter. He tells us, but God commended
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Much more than being now justified
By his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. He goes on, for if when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son,
much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. As we read the New Testament,
and especially the epistles, how gloriously they direct us
to the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work. It had to
be a finished work. And the finished work had to
end in the death of the Saviour. It had to end in the shedding
of His blood, which had been set forth right from the early
days in the Garden of Eden, through the Old Testament, right up to
this time. As we read together, without
shedding of blood, there is no remission. And so there were
throughout history those who were directed by the Spirit to
examine themselves and to understand what sinners they were and that
there was no hope for them naturally because they had offended the
holy law of God and they needed to have their sins taken away.
They needed to know that they were washed, they were cleansed,
they were clean, because no sin can enter into glory. And therefore
down through the Old Testament, here there was this picture of
the blood of bulls and of goats. And then also we read, and the
ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies to the
purifying of the flesh. And the ashes of Nehephar are
spoken about in the book of Numbers. It's only really recorded in
detail in the one chapter, the 19th chapter of the book of Numbers. And the words which the Lord
spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, this is the ordinance of the
law which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children
of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer, without spot, wherein
is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke." And it is an
isolated instance really, but it is a very relevant instance,
and very clearly Israel were mindful of this throughout in
their journeys and indeed throughout their history. And here, God's
servant Paul directs us right back to this situation. The ashes
of an heifer sprinkling the unclean. And we may think, well, what
is the relevance and how does that actually fit in? Well, I'm
sure we are aware that on the Passover night, there was the
lamb slain. and the lamb roast in the fire,
and the roast had to be consumed by the fire. And what did that
typify? Well, it typified the Lamb of
God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And here we have another picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the picture here is of a
red heifer, without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which
never came yoke. The lamb was without spot, without
blemish, and this red heifer is the same. And what's to happen
to this red heifer? He shall give her unto Eliezer
the priest, that ye may bring her forth without the camp, and
one shall slay her before his face." We see the illustration,
don't we? Without the camp. Jesus Christ
suffered without the camp. He suffered outside the walls
of Jerusalem. Fulfilling the picture that we
have here in this instance of this red heifer. which was taken
outside of the camp and to be slain. The Saviour was slain,
wasn't he? He died upon that cross. Here
we have the picture then of this red heifer slain. And Eliezer
the priest should take of her blood with his finger and sprinkle
of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation
seven times. We know that there were those
lambs and those bullocks were also slain. And in those instances
they were a male without blemish. And here we have a female without
blemish. Both joins together. And we know
of course that the picture of a female means fruitfulness. And yet here was this red heifer. Some of you probably know that
a heifer is a cow which has not had any calves. And therefore,
it was really pure, a red heifer. And here it was then brought
outside and slain. And the high priest, he took
the blood and brought it in and sprinkled it in the congregation
seven times. And then we continue, they shall
burn the heifer. in his sight, of skin, flesh,
blood, dung, everything was to be burnt. Everything was burnt
up, just like the lamb on the pass over night. Everything had
to be burnt that was left. They did of course partake of
that. Everything that was left had to be completely burnt. And
then the high priest is told, and the priest shall take cedar
wood and hyssop and scarlet and cast it into the midst of the
burning of the heifer. All those things joins together. Then the priest shall wash his
clothes and he shall bathe his flesh in water. And afterward
he shall come into the camp and the priest shall be unclean until
the evening. And then as we move on later
down in this same account. We read about the ashes and the
ashes were taken and they were piled together. And we read about
the man in his clean to gather up the ashes of the heifer and
lay them up without the camp in a clean place and it shall
be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for
a water of separation it is a purification for sin we know I'm sure that
the blood cleanses from all sin and here we have the picture
then of this water and this water was to be mixed with the ashes
of the heifer and he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall
wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening and it shall
be unto the children of Israel and unto the stranger that sojourneth
among them for a statute and then as we move on in this same
19th chapter and every open vessel which hath no covering bound
upon it is unclean and whosoever toucheth one that is slain with
a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man,
or a grave shall be unclean seven days. So there were many, therefore,
unclean situations. And then we read for, and for
an unclean person, they shall take of the ashes of the burnt
heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put
therein in a vessel. and a clean person shall take
hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent,
and upon all the vessels, and upon all the persons that were
there, and upon him that toucheth a bone, or one slain, or one
dead, or a grave. and the clean person shall sprinkle
upon the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day and
on the seventh day he shall purify himself and wash his clothes
and bathe himself in water and shall be clean until the evening. And so we have here the picture
then of cleansing, the picture of sanctification. We have the
picture of justification in the shed blood And here we have the
picture of sanctification in the cleansing of the body through
this water of purification, which was combined with the ashes of
the heifer. So that's what the apostle directs
our attention to in this verse here. For if the blood of bulls
and of goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean,
sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh. We have then there
those two pictures. The pictures of the animals that
were slain and the blood shed, and then the picture of the heifer
that was slain, also with blood shed, but also with the ashes
sprinkled with that pure water, that running water, to the purifying
of the flesh. And it's interesting, isn't it?
It has to be running water. You may remember there's another
picture in the Old Testament, when the bird had to be taken
and was slain and the blood was shed and it was washed under
running water. Running water, as we might think,
is pure, it's not stagnant, is it? It's movement, it's fresh. What does it do? It comes from
a spring. And so we begin to see the glorious
picture which we see through the Apostle as he directs our
attention Now, we of course today are not so familiar with this
picture, but the ancient church, the Jews, the Israel of old would
have been very familiar of what it meant. And so then you see,
the apostle can then direct them so gloriously and beautifully
to this great truth. 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 to serve the
living God. He wanted to elevate Christ far
above all these ceremonies which had been carried out. And they'd
been carried out in great detail and very carefully, because if
they hadn't, they would have offended the holy righteous law
of God. And we know those were who were
struck down when they did not do everything in accordance with
divine plan that Moses had received from the good hand of God. And
so how much more shall the blood of Christ. Now today we look
beyond those Old Testament ceremonies and we look today to the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. How much more shall the blood
of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God. You see, Christ was pure, Christ
was perfect. The illustration we had before
us was, of course, for the animals to be without spot. They weren't
acceptable otherwise. But here we have the Lord Jesus
who offered himself without spot to God. What a wonderful truth
it is. To think that the Saviour, He
offered Himself to God the Father, to His God, as an all-sufficient
sacrifice in order to take away our sins. There was no other
way of cleansing in the Old Testament days without these ceremonies. My friends, today there's no
other cleansing apart from being found under the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever that may mean for our
justification or our sanctification, both are combined in this great
and glorious truth, the blood of Christ. Well, how do we tonight
value this blood? It is so important, isn't it?
And you and I will only value it if we realize our need of
it. Israel of old, those ceremonies
would not have meant anything to them unless they were convicted
and convinced of their sin. and brought their sacrifice that
it might be offered up in order to atone for their sins. We know,
of course, there was the general day of atonement, but nonetheless,
there were those many occasions when individuals convinced of
their sin brought those animals that they might be slain in the
bloodshed in order to atone for their sin. Today, as we stand
before God, What a blessing if you and I have been convinced
of our sin and have so desired that we might be washed. The Lord Jesus Christ, you know,
he came and he washed his disciples' feet, didn't he? And really that
indicates to us the need we have of repentance. disciples and
we my friends are cleansed but there is that continual need
for repentance as it were to have our our feet washed as we
continue walking through this world as we continue our life
and day after day there are those times aren't there when we sin
and we need fresh repentance we need to be washed We need
our feet to be washed. We may not be left to walk in
a wrong way, in a spiritual sense. And of course, walking in a wrong
way in a spiritual sense doesn't necessarily mean walking with
our feet. It means perhaps our thoughts and our words and our
deeds. But it really is represented
by the walking of our feet. And the Lord Jesus Christ washed
the disciples' feet. And the Lord said to Peter, that
he only needed his feet to be washed. What a blessing it is
then to realise that we need this cleansing, this cleansing
of the Saviour. How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God. Today, do we stand and bless
God for the life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
without that death, without that shedding of blood, there wouldn't
be any way that you and I could approach unto a holy God. We
would not be able to pray to God. God is a holy God and cannot
look upon sin. You think today, if we walked
today and we sinned and we had wrong thoughts, How can we approach
to God, a holy, righteous Father? It's only through the merits
of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's only through,
therefore, those merits which speak of that blood that He shed
when He gave His life upon Calvary's cross. And therefore is the shed blood
of Christ attracted to us. The reality of real religion
directs us to the saviour's sacrifice. It's a great sadness today that
the majority of people in the world, professing world, professing
Christians, do not recognise and realise the great significance
of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That means they
don't realise the cost of their salvation. They're willing just
to carry on as they are and not profit from the great blessing
it is to be led and to be directed into the love of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that love was so clearly
revealed unto us as he gave his life and died upon the cross
at Calvary. The Apostle Paul tells us these
familiar words, but they are worth repeating, he says, because
it is written, be holy for I am holy. We're not holy, are we? In and of ourselves. It's only
as we're washed in the blood of the Lamb. And if ye call on
the Father, who without respect to persons judgeth according
to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here
in fear for as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation
received by tradition from your fathers. And the illustration
surely directs us to, on the one hand, the value of silver
and gold. And then on the other hand, the
precious blood of Christ, but with a precious blood of Christ
as of a lamb. Again, the picture we have here
of that lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily
was foreordained before the foundation of the world, foreordained, ordained,
that he would come and that he would die, that he would give
his life, give his body, a sacrifice for the sins of his church, but
must manifest in these last times. Who for? Who for? For you. For you, you see, it's
personal, my friends, who by him do believe in God that raised
him up from the dead and gave him glory that your faith and
hope might be in God. It's not in ourselves. It's not
in our flesh. We are undone. We are lost, we're
ruined because of our sin. We cannot stand before a holy
God. We have to bow down, pleading for mercy. Indeed, pleading that
the Lord would give us that repentance. Repentance is a great blessing
and it's a blessing when God gives us that Repentance which
is not to be repented of. That means it's a true repentance. That means it's not a mock repentance. There is a lot of mock religion
about today. There's a lot of people that
say, oh well I repented of that. But my friends, there's a great
difference between true repentance. That means truly falling down
before God and confessing our sins. that we have offended the
holy law of God. And we plead that he will have
mercy upon us. And we're truly sorry for our
sins. And we desire strength and help to not continue in that
way. That's a blessing of true repentance. It's not just a mere form of
words. We're not left just to mock God.
We don't see anything good in ourselves. We find all our righteousnesses,
those things which we might have thought were good, we might have
thought we were just in thinking certain things, are as filthy
rags. We're condemned before a holy
God. How are we to be brought back?
How are we to be made right? How are we to be justified? through the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. What a mercy it is when the Lord,
through our sin, directs us to the Saviour. Then you see it's
been a good operation, it's been a good work, hasn't it? It's
done ourselves good. And there it is then that we
come to that condition and we do indeed value the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit and has always realized
the eternity of God, we're not dealing with an idol made with
hands, we're dealing with the eternal God, the God who holds
our life in His hands, The God who holds our eternal life in
his hands, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience. Purge your conscience, washed,
made whiter than snow. Our conscience, our innermost
being, our soul. We need it to be cleansed, don't
we, from all sin. It needs it to be washed. As we read, and the ashes of
a heifer sprinkling the unclean. Yes, that beautiful typical picture,
that red heifer. Yes, red again directs us to
the shed blood, doesn't it? And that living water, that running
water, which cleanseth our soul. offered without spot to God,
purge your conscience from dead works, those works which are
of the flesh, those works which bring satisfaction to our flesh.
When the Lord comes and blesses us with forgiveness, the Lord
directs us to our true state, we see then in some way are dead
works, and we come pleading then not our works, but the work of
the Saviour. That finished work, that complete
work, and that work which cost the Lord of life and glory, Almighty
God, His life, as He gave it freely, as an all-sufficient
sacrifice, that through that death, we might receive the great
and glorious gift of eternal life from dead works. Dead works, you see, the effect
of this cleansing, this washing, is to deliver us from dead works,
to see the reality of those things perhaps which we've been looking
to, relying upon, and thinking that we're doing alright and
we're doing this and doing that. My friends, Everything outside
of Christ is but dead works, and we need to give all the honor
and glory to Christ, and that means his work, his perfect work,
his great work. Purge your conscience from dead
works, and the effect of these things will be to serve the living
God. Direct us then to serve the living
God. take us away from ourselves,
from serving ourselves, so that we may be able to give our life,
give our all. We may be found a true follower
of our blessed Lord and Saviour, serving Him, and labourers together
with Him, serve the living God, not the dead God. This is the
effect. This is the effect of the gracious
work of the Spirit of God, revealing Christ as our all-sufficient
Savior, revealing to us that He shed His blood to atone for
our sins. It'll make us willing servants.
And you know, we won't serve the Lord grudgingly. You know,
the Lord didn't die upon the cross grudgingly, did He? He
died willingly. to redeem our souls and therefore
we should be found joyfully serving the Living God. What a privilege
it is to think that we have this opportunity while we're on the
earth to serve the Living God. Because we owe such a great debt,
don't we? A debt of sin doesn't get smaller,
does it? And yet, you see, the blood of
Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, all sin. What an amazing blessing it is
to have such a Savior. Well, tonight, do you and I bow
down and worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, and that
will only be as we are washed, as we are cleansed from our sin. Yes, that we're redeemed with
the precious blood of Christ. What a privilege that it is to
come before our God and to lay ourselves before Him, willing to give our life, everything
that we have and possess, because of what He's done in giving His
life for us. These words then become a living
reality. They're not just a theory. They're
not just an historical account. They are directed to our hearts.
And by the grace of God, we enter into them. And we see here is
all our hope of salvation. The only hope of all our sins
being taken away in the blood of the Lamb for says the apostle,
if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer,
sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh,
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 to serve the living God. Amen.