If you would, open to Titus chapter
2. As Gabe said this evening, we've
come together to partake of the gift that our Lord left us. In
Luke 22, on the night he was betrayed, Our Lord took bread
and gave thanks and break it and gave unto them saying, this
is my body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of
me. A pastor of just a few years
ago wrote concerning the purpose of preaching. Its main purpose is to put us
in remembrance. Every time we gather together,
isn't that just what we desire? Lord, remind me one more time
how great things you have done for me. But when we observe our Lord's
table, we are especially remembered or remembering And most often, our attention
is drawn immediately to the broken body of our Lord, to Calvary. There's suffering and death on
that tree. In Luke 21, Christ said, this
is my body which is given. and my attention was drawn to
Titus 2, verse 14. But let's start reading Titus
2, verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying
ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly in this present world. looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people
zealous of good works. Our Lord, our great God, gave
himself for us. God is a spirit. Before his body
could be broken, he gave himself a body prepared for him to dwell
in. Isaiah 9.6, for unto us a child
is born. Unto us a son is given. Who is this child, this son? He is the sovereign, and the
government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Prince of
Peace. God, boundless, eternal, almighty
God, became an infant in the womb of a woman. He entered the world as every
infant. Every child of Adam has entered
the world. He was brought up and taught
by sinful parents. With brothers and sisters. Can
you imagine? Being the parent of Almighty
God, with all our flaws, being responsible
to be the teacher of Him, to be the provider for Him, to be
a sibling of Him. He learned to crawl. He learned to stumble like our toddlers
stumble. He learned to talk. He learned
to read. He learned to walk, to write. He learned what it was to work
as a carpenter. Though he were a son, Yet learned
he obedience by the things he suffered. He gave himself. Then, at the time appointed,
he gave himself a preacher of righteousness and he entered
into his public ministry. He preached. and he went so much
further. He touched the diseased. He touched the infirm. He touched those with leprosy. He touched the blind, the deaf,
the lame. In his touching, he partook,
he entered in what we are, to our suffering, to our afflictions,
to our sorrows, our burdens, our trials. He touched the dead. And those whom he touched, he
healed. He hungered. He thirsted. He grew weary. The Almighty God, who shall never
slumber nor sleep, as our Mediator, as our Substitute, was so exhausted
that He was found in the hinder part of the ship when His disciples
feared perishing for the storm that they were in. He who knew
no sin was touched. with the feelings of our infirmities.
He gave himself for us. Finally, having endured as a
man, having given himself to the fulfillment of the law and
the prophets of God, having given himself to the fulfillment of
the laws of man, He gave himself to the payment
of our sins. Isaiah 50 verse 6, I gave my
back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the
hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. They came
to take him in the garden. At a word, they all fell. He gave himself to them. He gave
himself into the hands of sinners, he gave himself to be scourged. He gave himself to be stripped.
He gave himself to be mocked. Gave himself to be nailed to
the tree. He gave himself. To be lifted
as the serpent in the wilderness. He gave himself. To shed his
blood. He gave himself to bear our sins. He gave himself. For the joy
that was set before him. He gave himself and endured the
cross, despising the shame. He gave himself. And he gave
up the ghost. He gave himself. And he entered
into the tomb. He gave himself to enter into
heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. Oh, Lord. for this gift of remembrance. Thank you for the great salvation
which you have secured for those given to you by the Father, for
those who you love with an everlasting love. Thank you, Lord, for revealing
to us Christ Jesus, who gave himself for us, that he might
redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar
people zealous of good works. Let's bow and pray. O Lord, our God, again,
Lord, we come before you with thanksgiving that you would be
so kind, so merciful to us as to leave us with this gift of
remembrance. Lord, thank you for our Lord
Jesus Christ who gave himself for us. Thank you, Lord, for doing for us, for becoming
one of us, and doing for us what we didn't
even know we needed done until you revealed yourself to us. Lord, thank you for your forgiveness,
mercy, your kindness towards sinners. Father, please bless this service
tonight. Forgive us, Lord. Be merciful
to us, for it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you. Turn with me, if you
would, now to Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter nine. In looking for a word specifically
on the subject of our Lord's blood, I came to Hebrews chapter
nine, and I read this chapter, and I honestly believe I may
have entered into this chapter more than I ever have before.
I just want to read this chapter to you. I'll make a few comments
and let's see if the Lord will open this up. Hebrews 9 verse
1, it says, then verily the first covenant had also ordinances
of divine service and a worldly sanctuary. The original place
where God said to his people, I will meet with you there. And
I'll have mercy through a blood sacrifice right there. That original
place was a worldly sanctuary, a tabernacle tent that had actual
items in it for the purpose of worship. Verse 2 says, for there
was a tabernacle made, the first wherein was the candlestick and
the table and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary.
When you went into this tabernacle, the first room was called the
sanctuary. And my center margin says that
that means, and that translates, the holy, the holy place. Verse three, and after the second
veil, There was a second room inside this tent. After the second
veil, the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all, which
had the golden censer and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid
round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna
and Aaron's rod that budded in the tables of the covenant, and
over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat of which
we cannot now speak particularly. So do we understand this visual?
He's given us this visual of this tabernacle. First room,
second room, these items inside it. This is what God set up for
the purpose of worshiping him. I was just sitting right there
a moment ago as he was speaking thinking, We're worshipping our
Lord. I constantly ask myself, what
are we doing? I ask myself that all the time.
What are we doing? We're worshipping Him. That's
what we're doing. Why are we here again? We're
worshipping Him. And this is what God set up for
worshiping him, for the purpose of worshiping him through the
offering of a sacrifice for sin. That's what this is all about.
A sacrifice for sin. Verse six. Now, when these things
were thus ordained, the priest went always into the first tabernacle. Accomplishing the service of
God, the priests multiple, they went in always accomplishing
the service of God. Verse seven, but into the second
went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood,
which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people. So inside that main part of the
tabernacle, ordinances of worship were carried out continually.
But into the room, that second room of the holiest of all, no
priest could go in there, but the high priest alone, and he
only went in one time a year, and he had to bring one thing
specifically. blood. He had to bring blood. And the reason our God ordained
it to be that way is because it pictured something. It pictured
something. Verse eight says the Holy Ghost,
this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not
yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was yet standing. It was not yet made manifest. Only one priest could go in,
no one else. What happened in there, no one
else could see. It was a secret transaction. And that signified the fact that
the true way into the holy place of heaven had not been made manifest
yet. All through the Old Testament,
that ordinance of worship was a picture that the true way was
coming. Everything in the Old Testament
said the true way is coming. Verse eight, the Holy Ghost,
this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not
yet made manifest while as the first tabernacle was yet standing.
which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered
both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the
service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience. which stood
only in meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances
imposed on them until the time of reformation. Everything they
were commanded to do, do, do. Everything they were commanded
to do, none of that did anything. but picture the one who would
come and do. And who was the one that came
and did? Christ Jesus the Lord. Verse
11 says, but Christ being come and high priest of good things
to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made
with hands, that is to say, not of this building, 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." That means He didn't just offer a lamb. He was the lamb. That's what
it means. He offered himself. He gave himself
like we just heard. He entered in once into the holy
place of the actual presence of God. He went, just see if
that'll get ya. See if that will, this second
room pictured something. It pictured something. The holiest
of all. And he didn't go into that brown-skinned
tabernacle. Jesus Christ went into the holiest
of all. He went right into the holy place,
the actual presence of God, bringing in his own sinless, spotless,
pure, unstained blood. And with the payment of his perfect
blood, he obtained eternal redemption for his people, every soul God
gave to him. Verse 13 says, for if the blood
of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling
the unclean sanctify us 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. As the Old Testament
ordinance was a picture appeasement for the flesh, it was a picture
appeasement. The accomplishment of Christ
was an actual spiritual appeasement for our soul. Verse 15 says,
and for this cause, He is the mediator of the New Testament. We are reading right now the
New Testament. Verse 15 says, and for this cause,
He is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death,
for the redemption of the transgressions, that were under the First Testament,
they which are called might receive the promise of eternal life. He is the mediator of this New
Testament. By means of death, He secured
it. If Hannah and I draw up a last
will in Testament, okay, We have one drawn up, a
last will and testament that says in the event of both of
our death, everything that we have goes to our girls. If we
tell them that in the event of our death, everything that we
have goes to you and we go and we have a lawyer according to
law. We write it up and it's signed
and it's sealed and we have a last will and testament. Everything
that we have in the event of both of our death, it goes to
our girls. The only way that our girls can
get everything that we have is if we both die. That's the only
way. That's how a testament works.
A covenant promise is made. Now, girls, if something happens
to us, everything we have goes to you. You see all this stuff,
you see this house and all these things, everything we have, it
goes to you. A covenant promise is made. But it's not put in place and
it's not put in practice until the testator who made the covenant
promise dies in order for it to be put into practice, in order
for it to be put in place, in order for it to be so, the testator
has to die. That's how it works, legally,
rightly, according to the law. Look at verse 17. For a testament
is a force after men are dead. Otherwise, it is of no strength
at all while the testator liveth. With a testament, as long as
the testator lives, there's no strength in his promise. Promises
are made, but there's no strength in the promise. He has to die. Verse 18, Whereupon, neither
the first testament was dedicated without blood, For when Moses
had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law,
he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water and scarlet
wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people,
saying, This is the blood of the Testament, which God hath
enjoined unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood
both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry, and
almost all things are by the law purged with blood. And without the shedding of blood
is no remission. Without that death, there was
no effectual binding authority in the words of that promise.
And that's what it pictured. Moses said, this is the promise
of God. And then blood was shed and Moses
slung blood on everything. Verse 23, it was therefore necessary
that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified
with these. But the heavenly things themselves
with better sacrifices than these. All those bulls and goats died
to confirm the picture. Thousands upon thousands upon
millions of death, blood sacrifices were made to picture, to confirm
the picture of the effectually binding authority of the promise
of God. For thousands of years, God confirmed
the promise with a picture. My lamb will redeem my people. He confirmed it with a picture.
It's a promise. It's a promise. Verse 23, it
was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the
heavens should be purified with these, But the heavenly things
themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not
entered into the holy place made with hands. Christ did not go
into that brown skinned tabernacle out into the wilderness. Christ is not entered into the
holy place made with hands, which are the figures of the true.
But he entered into heaven itself. now to appear in the presence
of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often as the high priest entereth into the holy place
every year with blood of others, for then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world." If Christ had to make that payment
every year, it would mean his redemption payment was not effectual.
And it was not eternal. And he would have to suffer for
us. He'd have to suffer for our sin for the rest of eternity.
He would never stop suffering for all the sin that we've committed. But Christ is not gonna have
to do that. Because the moment he died, everything was set in
stone. It was taken into effect immediately
the moment he died. Verse 24 says, for Christ is
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. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often as the high priest entereth into the holy place
every year with blood of others, for then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world. But now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment, 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. Every soul who Christ died for
will look for Him. Every one of them will look for
Him. They will look to Him. They will
cast their all on Him. This table right here is for
those who look for Him and those who look to Him and those who
cast their all on Him. And if that's us, then let's remember his death,
the death that sealed his covenant promise in stone. Through this
ordinance that he's given to us, let's remember his body and
remember his blood in his death till he comes. Let's have a word
of prayer together. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you
for the blood. Thank you for the blood. Thank you for the promise. Thank
you for the covenant. Thank you for the surety of it
through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you so much
for blotting out our transgressions and washing us from our sins.
Thank you so much, Lord. Thank you so much for the power
of that blood. the effective, the effectual
power of that blood, that by one shedding of that blood, it
completely put away all of our sin forever. We are so grateful. Lord, thank you for the pictures
you've given us. Thank you for the word of promise
that we hold to. Thank you for all of it. Lord,
you're so wise. Your word is so wise. Would you
reveal more of these things to us, Lord? Would you open our
eyes to our Savior and open our eyes to more of what Christ has
done for us in his cross, in the dying of his cross? Lord,
thank you again. Thank you for this moment. Thank
you for allowing us to be here. I thank you, Lord, for every
person that you have brought to worship you tonight. We give
you all of this thanks in Christ's name. Amen.