I want to ask you a question.
Has God shown you that you're a sinner? When I speak of a sinner,
I'm not talking about someone who merely knows that they've
done some wrong things. I would dare say that every adult
here this morning would agree to being the type and kind of
sinner who has spoken done, thought, and imagined some things that
are wrong. So I'm not talking about a sinner
in that sense. When I speak of a sinner, I'm
talking about one whom God has made to grieve over their sin
and condition before Him. One who hates and despises the
way that they are, the sin within them, so easily besets them. Are you that kind of sinner?
A sinner like Job who said, I abhor myself. When he saw the Lord,
he said, I abhor myself. I hate how I am. A sinner like
Paul who said, oh, wretched man that I am. Paul didn't say, oh,
wretched man I was, did he? He said, oh, wretched man that
I am. A sinner like David who said, I've sinned against the
Lord. You see, that's what makes our
sin so horrendous. It's all against the Lord. David
said, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil
in thy sight. I'm talking about a sinner like
Mephibosheth, who was lame on both of his feet. Oh, doesn't
he picture you and I? lame on his feet from a great
fall." Boy, that's mean. A sinner like him who said concerning
himself to his master, he said, what is thy servant that thou
shouldest look upon a dead dog as I am? Oh, that's the kind
of sinner I'm talking about. I'm talking about a man or a
woman who understands that sin is what they are, not just what
they do. I'm talking about a sinner who
knows what they deserve when they stand before God to give
an account of the things that they've done in this body. A
sinner who sees that their heart is deceitful above all things
and desperately wicked. Has God shown you that concerning
your heart? I'm telling you, if you can easily
move beyond the fact of being a sinner, if your attitude is
okay, well, I know I'm a sinner, what's next? Then you have yet
to truly see the depravity of your own heart. Because a biblical
sinner, can I use that term? A sinner, as this Bible declares
them to be, finds great difficulty in getting over their sin. It's
constantly on their mind and heart. They hate it. Wished it
wasn't so. A real sinner sees that they're
shaped in iniquity. That's what David said. He said,
I was shaped in iniquity and conceived in sin. You see, to
be conceived and shaped in sin means that you were a sinner
before you were ever born. Well, how's that? You were a
sinner before you ever sinned. Because sin is what you are.
Your mother was a sinner. Your father was a sinner. That
which comes forth from the flesh is flesh. Sinners produce sinners. And you can trace it all the
way back to Father Adam and Mother Eve. I'm talking about the kind
of sinner that knows from within, out of the heart proceeds evil
thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness,
wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,
foolishness. I'm talking about a great sinner
who needs a great Savior. Sinners like the ones that God
saw when He looked down from His throne in the days of Noah. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth. It was great in the earth because
it was great in the man. And that every imagination, every
imagination of the thoughts of his or her heart was only evil
continually. That's the kind of sinner I'm
asking you. Has God shown you you're that
kind of sinner? We see something of the great
wickedness of man when we see that every imagination and thought
of his heart is evil. We see something of the wickedness
of man when we see every imagination and thought is evil continually. And you might be sitting where
you are this morning and go, I'm a sinner, but I'm not that
bad. This is how God declares you to be. A desperately wicked
heart has a constant flow of evil. That's what God says. It's a heart that has thoughts
and imaginations that are only evil and continually evil. Does that describe you? The kind
of sinner that God says, but they obey not, neither incline
their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear
nor receive instruction. Jeremiah 17, 23. Sinners that
will not come to Christ, that they might have life. Sinners
that will not have this man Christ Jesus to rule over them. Has
God shown you that you're that kind of sinner? Second question. Do you desire to have your sin
forgiven and put away? If you've seen that you're this
kind of sinner, do you desire to have your sin forgiven and
put away? I think that's a good question.
I think that's a pertinent question to ask. I'm talking about all
your sin, all past sin, all present sin, all future sin. I'm talking
about sins of thought, sins of word, sins of deed, sins of imagination. Only the sins that you and God
know about. Would you like to know how they
could be ever, forever put away? To be held against you no more?
Would that at all be of interest to you? Well, if you're a biblical
sinner, you'll desire to know. If God shows you what sin is,
you'll desire to know. If you know who your sin is against,
you will. If you want reconciliation with
God, you'll desire to know how your sin can be put away. And
I'm telling you, these are questions that will expose you for who
and what you are. What if you could, this very
minute, know and have full confidence and complete assurance that you
would forever, eternally be in the presence of God? What if
you could know beyond all doubt that you could one day soon reside
in a sinless body and worship God continually? Would you have
any desire to? Would you have any interest in
knowing how you might be enabled to forever and ever be made without
sin and shame? Well, by the grace of God this
morning, and very briefly, I want to endeavor to show you your
sin and mine and how it might be forever taken away and forgiven. And I could have chosen many
passages. That's what this book's about. It's about Christ. It's a hymn book, H-I-M. And
it's about how He reconciles chosen sinners unto Himself.
This morning I've chosen a passage in Hebrews chapter 10. Would
you turn there with me? Hebrews chapter 10. In showing us how our sin can
be put away and forgiven, the Holy Spirit first shows us in
this text how it cannot be put away and forgiven. Look at verse
one. Hebrews 10 verse one. For the law, having a shadow
of things to come, and not the very image of the things, can
never, you see that? Can never. with those sacrifices
which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto
perfect. Now, let's just don't read over
these words. It's imperative for us to first
know that being reconciled to God has nothing to do with being
good and everything to do with being perfect. We can't miss
that. Now, stick your marker here in
Hebrews 10 and turn back to Matthew chapter 19 with me. This is the
only other place I believe that I'll turn you this morning, but
Matthew chapter 19. And this is something that we
refer to often. And it's a passage of scripture
that you're familiar with. But here in Matthew chapter 19,
we have a man, A man whom the world would call
a good man. You know, we often say, oh, he's
a good man, she's a good woman, and what we mean is compared
to most, or compared to ourself they are. But compared to God,
there's none good. But we would call this man a
good man. And he came to the Lord, and
in chapter 19, 16, he asked this question, he said,
good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal
life? Now it's obvious by his words
that he thought salvation had something to do with being good.
He called the Lord good master and then he asked what good thing
he must do in order to have eternal life. And here we see the Lord's
response. He says, Why callest thou me
good? Salvation is not about being
good. I wish folks could understand
that. Being reconciled to God is not
about being good. The forgiveness of sin is not
about being good. Salvation is about being perfect
without sin. Verse 17, Christ asked, why callest
thou me good? He said, there's none good but
one. And that is God. But if thou wilt enter into life,
keep the commandments. But remember this, you've got
to keep all the commandments and you've got to keep all of
them perfectly. For whosoever shall keep the
whole law and yet offend in one point, James said, it is guilty
of all the law. So you've got to keep it all,
and you've got to keep it all perfectly. And in verse 18, he,
the good man, said unto Christ, which? Which commandment? All
of them. Every single one of them. If
you insist on being saved by keeping the commandments, you've
got to keep all of them, and you have to keep them perfectly. Now we've established that. And
our Lord said in verse 18, thou shalt not murder, do no murder,
thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt
not bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother, and
thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And the young man
said unto him, all these things have I kept from my youth up,
what like I yet? Now listen, if you belong to
Christ, if you are one of God's elect, if you're one who loves
the Lord, who are the called according to His purpose, believe
me when I tell you that Christ will meet you right where your
heart is every time, in every instance, with every child of
God. Whatever your greatest weakness
is, that's where God will meet you and expose you. Verse 21,
Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect. You see, salvation
is not about being good. It's about being perfect. He
said, if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and
give to the poor. And thou shalt have treasure
in heaven, and come and follow me.' But when the young man heard
that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."
Now, dear sinner, listen to me. In order to be perfect, you've
got to be made willing to give up all for Christ. You've got
to be willing to give up everything for Him. Okay, back in Hebrews
10 verse 1, here we see that the law, the commandments, had
a shadow. And that word in the original
Greek means shade. It had a shade of good things
to come. But not the very image of the
good things. That's what the writer tells
us. The law showed us a shadow, a picture, of good things which
were to come and to show us that we can never look at it with
those sacrifices which they offered. Look at the verse with me, verse
one. That they can never with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually make the comers there unto what? Perfect. Perfect. These sacrifices
never made, matter of fact, the ceremonial law with all its priests
and with all its sacrifices and with all its ceremonies could
never take away one sin. Year after year, for hundreds
of years, the Jews sacrificed all those animals and all of
them combined never took away one sin. Not one. The sacrifice God requires has
to take away all sin. All the sin of all God's people
throughout all time. That's going to take a special
sacrifice. There's only one that's acceptable unto God. God required
a perfect sacrifice, and that perfect sacrifice was capable
of putting away all sin. Now, in verses 2 and 3, we read
this. For then would they, speaking
of those sacrifices, not have ceased to be offered, because
that the worshipers once purged should have no more conscience
of sins. But in those sacrifices there
is a remembrance again made of sins every year." Now, let me
try to make that as plain and simple as I can. If these sacrifices
could take away sin, If the sacrifices of those animals could remove
sin, if they could justify a sinner, make a sinner perfect, there'd
be no need to ever offer another one. That's exactly why these
sacrifices had to be year after year continually offered. They couldn't take away sin.
They couldn't remove the consciousness of sin. Why, they would come,
they would hand that sacrifice to the high priest, he would
take it into the Holy of Holies, and he would offer it up to God
on their behalf, and they left feeling no different. It didn't
take away one sin, or the consciousness of it. They couldn't remove the
guilt of sin. Every year the sinner was reminded
that they were still sinners. And that they needed yet another
sacrifice. But when God puts away sin, by
the sacrifice of Himself, I'm speaking of Christ who is God,
the Son. His justice is satisfied. When
sin is taken by God, dear sinner, sin is forever removed. When
sin is gone, the conscience is clear. That's the reason the
child of God can find rest in Christ. That's the reason that
Christ had to die only once. That's why we read down in verse
14, for by one offering, He, Christ, has perfected, there's
that word again, perfected forever them. that are sanctified. You
see the blood of God, the blood of Christ purges our sin. The blood of Christ cleanses
us from all sin. The blood of Christ atones for
our sin. The blood of Christ sanctifies
and separates us unto God. And again they continue to offer
these sacrifices year by year and what a clear indication that
sin was not gone This is proof that sin remained. Sin was not
put away until Christ came and put it away. Now do you see why
it is so important to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for the
putting away of your sin? He's the only one that can. He's
the only one that can take away, put away your sin. Look at verse
4. For it's not possible that the
blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Christ was able
to put away His people's sin because first He was made in
our likeness, yet without sin, the Scripture says. He was bone
of our bone and flesh of our flesh. And I remember hearing
Brother Mahan say many years ago that an animal can't die
for a man. That's a fact. Only a man can
be substituted in the place of a man. Only a man can redeem
a man. God instituted man to bring animal
sacrifices and the blood of a lamb until God's Lamb came. And one
day, he walked upon the scene and John was baptizing those
in the River Jordan. And all of a sudden, he just
stopped what he was doing. And he said, Behold, the Lamb
of God! who taketh away the sin of the
world." And I'm telling you, Christ the Lamb had come. The
Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. By bringing
these lambs and these sacrifices, sinners proved that they believed
what God said, and that was that God's Lamb was coming. And then
and only then would the sacrifices cease to be offered. Why? Look at verse 12. Because this
man, a man, he's the God-man. Because this man, Christ Jesus,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on
the right hand of God. Now why did he sit down? Because
the work's finished. It's finished. Redemption's accomplished. Verse 14, by his offering he
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. And I'm telling
you, one day soon in the end of the world hath he, Christ,
appeared to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself, Hebrews
9.26. Now does that mean anything to
you? Christ has not entered into the
holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us. And I'm telling you, if God will
enable you to see this, it'll set you free and it'll make you
free. Christ didn't enter into the holy place made with hands,
speaking that holy of holies behind the veil and the sanctuary
and the temple, that place that the priest entered into with
the blood sacrifice. But Christ, the great high priest,
entered into heaven itself with His own blood in the presence
of God and He put it on the mercy seat of glory. And God looked
at it and He said, I'm satisfied! It's enough. It is enough. Oh, He sufficiently, He effectually,
He eternally purged all the sins of His people with His own blood. What a Savior. What a Savior. Why? Because it's not possible
that the blood of bulls and goats put away sins. Now look at verse
five, it says, wherefore when he cometh into the world, he
said, sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast
thou prepared me. When Christ came into the world
to save his people from their sin, God gave him a body. He said, a body hast thou prepared
for me. God the Father prepared God the
Son a body. Why? Because you and I, who are
weak in the flesh, sinners, the law could not provide for us
what God required. And it wasn't because the law
was faulty. It's because man was. It has
nothing to do with weakness in the law. It has everything to
do with the weakness of the sinner. So Paul tells us in Romans 8,
he says, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh and for sin. And if you have a marginal Bible
there, you can look at it. Romans 8, 3 and 4, it means by
a sacrifice of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh,
that the righteousness, now listen, that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us. By Christ's substitution for
us and in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
By sending Christ in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without
sin. Christ condemned sin in the flesh. He condemned sin in His flesh. For He was the perfect man. Never
thought a sinful thought. Never said a sinful word. Never
done a sinful deed. He was perfect. And that means
that the law of God could find no fault in the person of our
substitute and our sacrifice, the God-man. Our Lord lived perfectly
His whole life. Therefore, the law had no claim
on Him. Do you see what the Scripture
is telling us here? The law couldn't charge Him.
He didn't do anything wrong. The law couldn't punish Him.
He didn't do anything wrong. The holy justice of God's law
had to let Him and all who are in Him go. Being in Christ and
one with Him, the law cannot charge you. The law cannot punish
you. The law must declare that you
are perfectly righteous. Therefore, every sinner that's
found in Christ has the righteousness of the law, the perfect righteousness
that Christ obtained and fulfilled in them. And that's why Paul
says, in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit,
in the sacrifice and offering for Christ. Now stay with me
just for a moment. In the sacrifice and offering
of Christ for his people, God is well pleased. Isn't that music
to your ears? God who is angry with the wicked
every day, who is angry with the wicked every day, now finds
great pleasure. and his son and those that are
in him. And look again at verse 6, that in burnt offerings and
sacrifice for sin, God had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I
come, and the volume of the book is written of me to do thy will,
O God. And above, when he said, sacrifice
and offering, and burn offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldest
not, neither had pleasure therein, which are offered by the law,
then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. And he taketh
away the first, that he may establish the second. Now what's he talking
about here? Well, he's talking about the covenant of works.
which God took away. Christ fulfilled the law, and
now the covenant of grace reigns. He's talking about the covenant
of works. He may establish the second, which is the covenant
of grace. Christ came to fulfill the law
by the sacrifice of Himself, and He did so. And Christ has
now come to establish the gospel of free grace that's found in
Him. Now, which one do you want to be under? The law of works
or the law of grace. How can our sin be forgiven and
put away? Only one way. Through the voluntary
sacrifice and offering of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse
10. By the witch will we are sanctified. And that word means made holy.
Through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all. And there you have again the
heart of the gospel which is substitution. Christ doing for
me what I cannot do for myself. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins that just for the unjust that he might bring us to God
being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit,
1 Peter 3.18. And that's the only way. That's
the only way that God can remain just and still justify the ungodly. Look at verse 16. This is the
covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. I'll put my laws into their hearts,
and in their minds will I write them, And I tell you what, write
this down on your heart, verse 17, and their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. Now that'll mean something to
you if you're a sinner. That'll mean something to you.
If you're not a sinner, it may not. All my sins. All my iniquity, the hymn writer
wrote, my sin not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross
and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, it is well with
my soul. Is it well with your soul? Oh,
I hope that it is. All my sin and all my iniquity,
God will remember no more. Well, don't you have to straighten
up and fly right before God will do this for you? Well, you can't
do that. You can't straighten up and fly right. Nope, my wings
were stripped from me long ago before I ever came into this
world. I can't fly. I can't straighten up. That'll mean something to you
if you're a sinner, a real sinner. Verse 18, now where remission,
and that word means forgiveness and deliverance, of these is
there is no more offering for sin. Christ sat down on the right
hand of God and we're seated there with Him. You know what
that means? That means that the work's done. Why are we still
trying to work our way to heaven? The work's been accomplished.
All we have to do is trust in Him, rest in Him. Depend on him for everything. Lost men and women still trying
to offer something to God for sin, but there's no more offering
for sin needed. Verse 19, having therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Now how
can we enter with boldness into that holy of holies that none
were allowed to enter? By the blood of Jesus, that's
what it says. Verse 20, by a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated, which he hath made, that's what that word means,
for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. And let
me say this in closing. That veil in the temple, that
veil that the high priest went behind into the holy of holies,
that veil was rent. It was torn in two when the Lord
Jesus gave up the ghost. And that curtain was ripped from
the top to the bottom. Only God could reach the top
of that curtain and rip it in two. That veil has been ripped
in two and it allows us access to God. And that pictures the
flesh, the body of Christ which was torn, which was broken so
that we might enter into the very throne of God's grace. Now we have a true high priest.
Verse 21, and having a high priest, that being the Lord Jesus Christ,
over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in
full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water, let us
hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He
is faithful that promised. So, do you see what God has done
for sinners, for chosen sinners? You might answer yes, but ask
in the same breath, how do I know if I'm one of God's chosen? Well,
do you remember the two questions I asked you in the beginning
of the message? Has God shown you that you're a sinner? Has
God shown you that you're a sinner as God describes a sinner to
be? The second question I ask you, do you have any real interest
in how God puts away that sin? Not just any sin, but your sin. I mean, do you have a real interest
in how God accomplished that? If you do, then I can assure
you that you're one of His. Because only the child of God
does. And if you don't, then I'm afraid you have reason to
be concerned for your soul. Draw near, dear sinner, with
a true heart and full assurance. That's what the verse says. Why?
Verse 23, for Christ is faithful that promised. He's never, ever
failed. It's incapable of Him to fail. And I hear preachers today, oh,
I'm telling you, shame, shame. Talking about how Christ wants
to do something, but you've got to let Him. Oh, how God wants
to save you, but you've got to give Him your heart. What blasphemy! That's not the God and the Christ
of this Bible. He's faithful that promised.
He's able to do exceeding, abundantly, above all that we could think
or ask. What a God! What a Savior! What a Gospel! With me, I say,
what a sinner. But with Him, I say, what a Savior.