The Book of Numbers, Chapter
19. The Book of Numbers, Chapter 19. Not too long ago, Nancy found
some family pictures that we haven't seen for some time, so
they've been interesting to go over. And the amazing thing that
I've noticed by a number of the early photographers, particularly
those who were like me, not very professional, the people were
about this tall, but we had this much background. And you just
can't see the features of the people. You would like to see
those people a little bit closer. Well, as we go through the Bible,
we do find that some of the pictures of Christ in the Old Testament
in particular are kind of small. But when we get here to the book
of Numbers chapter 19, we're finding that there are close-up
pictures, there are close-up declarations of the saviorship
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's pictured here
in this passage of scripture in the statements that we read
about the red heifer. That's chapter 19 of the book
of Numbers. And as we look through here,
we've noticed in this passage of scripture, Numbers chapter
19, and we're just going to reread the first few verses here that
share with us the truths of our Savior contained in this statement
about the red heifer. Now there's much ado about the
red heifer in the world today, the religious world in particular.
I was shared this morning about how much it's cost somebody to
ship three red heifers to Israel. I mean, an astronomical amount.
And yet, that has nothing to do with this passage of scripture.
There is nothing in the scriptures about the necessity of that in
our day. In fact, the opposite is true. We're not looking for new animal
sacrifices. That is an abomination. Christ
is our sacrifice, Christ is our Passover, Christ is our Savior,
and He went once to the cross. to save his people from their
sins. That is the total difference about this high priest and others
that we find in scripture. There was multiple sacrifices
required throughout the Old Testament, but there was only one required
of the Savior because he is the perfect son of God. Now, here
in this passage of scripture, it tells us that the Lord commanded
this to be taking place. He commands it in verse two,
the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron saying, this is the ordinance
of the law which the Lord has commanded saying. At this point, up to this point,
this has not been an ordinance for Israel and now it is an ordinance
for Israel. And how often this was required,
I don't know, because the ashes of this heifer were used as we
find in the latter part of this chapter for setting apart for
cleansing for that sort of thing. Well, it tells us that this ordinance
and the command of it speak unto the children of Israel that they
bring the red heifer. This is the requirement, number
one, that it come from Israel. You know, it's so interesting
as we go through the Old Testament as well as the New Testament,
that God is always declaring unto the people that he is sovereign
over salvation. And he saves his people, but
he saves whom he will his people. He is not required in any place
found in the scriptures to lay down his life a ransom for everybody
and hope that some of them will be saved. He is going to lay
down his life a ransom for his church and they will be saved. That's the promise of God. So
the children of Israel are to bring this out. Now it doesn't
tell us who's herd this red heifer came out of, but it does tell
us about this red heifer that it is a rarity. That's one of
the things that we want to notice here. It was a rarity. And as
we look at this red heifer as a picture type and shadow of
our Savior, there was only one like him that has ever walked
the face of the earth. And there will never be another.
He is alone in his category. He is alone as Savior. He is
alone as Lord. He is alone as the one that came
to this earth to lay down his life a ransom for his people.
He is alone in all of that. Now his church is in high praise
of him, but he is alone in what he did. In fact, when he did
it, he was alone. All his disciples fled. There
was not one that was there in supporting him. They all fled
just as it would be promised and declared in the Old Testament.
This is what's going to happen. So he is alone in his category. He is head and shoulders above
everyone else. He is the rose of Sharon. He is the lily of the valley.
He didn't say he's the lilies of the valley, and he didn't
say he's the roses of Sharon. He is thee, and that's what we
find. He is the Christ of God. He is
the Messiah. He is the Son of God, and he
is alone in his category. Now thanks be unto God, he's
going to give us some of that benefit in salvation. But he's
alone, he's the red heifer. Now that word heifer we found
is a female cow and it gives us some very blessed contemplations
about the relationship between Christ and his church. When he
went to the cross, he went as his church. He bore our sins
in his own body on the tree. He is there on behalf of, he
is representing everyone that the father gave him before the
foundation of the world. Everyone, he is representing
them all. And here he is. There's such
a relationship between Christ and the church that we call it
a union. When I was in the Willamette
Valley for a short time, Thank the Lord. I noticed, and I love
English walnuts. I like black walnuts too. They're
really flavorful, but over there they took black walnut roots
and grafted English walnuts to those roots. And you can see
the ring around them where they grafted. And there was a union
there that was not going to be destroyed unless you destroyed
the entire tree. Now that's just a slight picture
of the union between Christ and the church. If the church is
destroyed, it will take the head with it and God is not going
to be destroyed. He is going to protect his body. He's going to protect his church.
And he did that by giving himself a ransom for it and payment in
full and no sin is going to be held to their charge. All right,
it goes on and says it's without spot and without blemish. How
does that declare our savior? my goodness he was without spot
and without blemish in fact first peter talks about as a lamb slain
without spotted without blemish they looked at him for 33 and
a half years they inspected him Now, during his personal ministry,
he is truly inspected. He had everybody, every relationship,
every religious group in the country at the time, the politicians,
all inspected him and inspected him and inspected him and could
find no fault in him. In fact, at his trial, they had
to hire liars. Now it wasn't very difficult
to do because the scriptures tell us we come forth from our
mother's womb speaking lies. So all they had to do is get
some normal people to lie about him. And they crucified him and
people cry about that today. Oh my goodness, that's our salvation. The crucifixion of Christ is
our salvation. So we look at it, oh yes, he
shouldn't have, but he did and we're thankful for it. All right,
and then it tells us, there came no yoke upon him. What a wonderful
statement. We are born with the yoke. We're
born with the yoke of sin. We have it from the day we were
born, day we're conceived, we have this yoke of sin. And by
the grace of God, this yoke of sin for all his church was placed
upon him. So for a short time on the cross,
he bore our yoke of sin. But he did such an outstanding
God Almighty job with it that it cannot be found anymore because
he paid for it in full. That's what we're going to find
out here about this red heifer. They're going to consume the
body of this red heifer. What does that mean? There's
nothing left to put sin on. It's done. All right. Well, verses
three and five have an interesting statement made here. It says,
and ye shall give her unto Eliezer. So someone, some representative
of Israel gave the red heifer to Eliezer. Now, you know, Since
the people are not really privy to what's going on before this
happens, some of them probably thought, well, they're just going
to take her out to some nice green pasture. They're going
to go out and treat this red heifer with special care, whatever
is going to happen. And you know, that when he took
that red heifer out there, there is somebody that is unidentified
in the scriptures. We don't know the person's name. We don't know who it was, but
somebody, someone took this red heifer and slaughtered that red
heifer in the face of Elijah the priest. Now, I've taken the
lives of several animals. and I never want to be there
when they die. Can you imagine the face of Israel
when this one person selected by God and God alone, it tells
us there, you shall take that he may bring her forth without
the camp, and one shall slay her before his face." What reaction was on the face
of Eleazar and the rest of the folks? When this scene took place,
you know, it just sort of reminds me of what we find in the 53rd
chapter of the book of Isaiah, for we all like sheep have gone
astray and we've turned everyone to his own way. And we found
nothing beautiful in Jesus Christ whatsoever by our nature. There
was nothing about him that attracted us by nature. Turn over there
with me, if you would, to the 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah,
and let us just read that 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah. And verse two, Isaiah 53, and
verse two, it says, for he shall grow up before him as a tender
plant. And we had some reading about
that this morning. John, his cousin, the Lord Jesus'
birth, grew up, and it says, out of dry ground, he hath no
form nor comeliness, And when we shall see him, there was no
beauty that we should desire him. There was nothing attractive
about Jesus Christ or his message, the gospel, until God made him
attractive to us. We're not looking for him. I've
said this many times about Saul of Tarsus going down to Damascus.
He was not going down there to a revival meeting. He was not
going down there to a preaching service and he was not going
down there to a prayer meeting. He was going down there to arrest
people who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. That was his only
interest. And on the way, God did something
gracious to him. God revealed Christ to him. Paul
said, he revealed Christ in me in the book of Galatians. What
a glorious thing. And from that point on, Saul
of Tarsus was not the man that was going down there. Saul of
Tarsus was a new creation in Christ Jesus. And his interest
was to see Christ in the scriptures and preach Christ. So this scene
that is taking place, go back to the book of Numbers, if you
would. Numbers chapter 19, it says there in verse three, and
you shall bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay
her before his face. Now there's some wonderful things
that are mentioned here with regard to taking him without
the camp, taking her, excuse me, taking her without the camp.
We're going to see here that it was not part of the normal
tabernacle service or later temple service. This is not the normal
tabernacle service. Red Heifer was slain without
the camp. It was not affiliated with the
temple service. In fact, we find that the priest,
Eleazar, and he is not the high priest at the time. He's going
to be after his father Aaron passes away. But this priest
is there and only observes what is going to happen. He did not
participate in what is happening. He only observes what is happening.
Someone else took care of the slaughter of that Red Heifer.
and someone else took care of the collection of the blood of
that red heifer because in verse 4 we're going to find that Eliezer
is going to sprinkle some of that blood and then in verse
5 we find that that person unknown to us is going to burn that red
heifer and every bit of that red heifer shall be burned and
consumed. Now it tells us there's only
some additives there and a little later if you read on, but we're
not going to go there today. We find here that this is a very
fortuitous thing. It's such a blessed thing that
this red heifer was taken without the camp because it shows us
that Jesus Christ was not crucified in the temple, around the temple,
by the temple, and was not crucified by a legal participant of the
Levitical law. Now, the Levites and the high
priests were in favor of crucifixion, but they did not participate
in it. They did not look at it. Why?
Why didn't they? He's not going to be just the
fulfillment of some Levitical law. He's not going to be sacrificed
as just a normal sacrifice. They're not going to take credit
for him. The law has nothing to do with this. The law Jesus
Christ kept perfectly all his life. In fact, he is the son
of God. He is the righteous son of God.
His righteousness is going to be used to impute to us, but
he is not under the Levitical priesthood. In fact, we find
in the book of Hebrews that he has nothing to do with the Levitical
priesthood. In the book of Hebrews chapter
seven, would you join me there for just a moment? The book of Hebrews chapter seven
shares with us that there was nothing in the rules of Moses
about this line, this tribe being involved. In Hebrews chapter
seven and verse 11, the scriptures share this. If therefore, Hebrews
chapter seven and verse 11, If therefore perfection were by
the Levitical priesthood, aliaser, Aaron. whoever took the position
after Eliezer, all the other Levite priests that were there.
If the perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, for under
it, the people received the law, what further need were there
that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek
and not be called after the order of Aaron? You know, there was
a problem with the Aaronic priesthood. Aaron died. Guess what? Eliezer died. Guess
what? His son died. They had a problem. They have the same problem you
and I have. And that is, that is the only thing that is certain
out there. Our own death. Used to be nobody
can avoid taxes and death, but I read all the time of people
who avoid taxes, but nobody avoids death. That is it. All right. So the problem that they had
was they were human beings. They did not have eternal life. They did not
proceed from the throne of God. And so here it says in verse
12, for the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity
a change also of the law. Don't bring me under the Levitical
law because I have a different priest. Don't bring me under
those animal sacrifices. I have a different priest. God
ordered a different priest. God ordained a different priest.
God chose a different priest and not the Arianic priesthood,
not the Levitical priesthood. For he of whom these things are
spoken pertaineth to another tribe of which no man gave attendance
to the altar. You know what? If a member of
the tribe of Judah had came up to the tabernacle and offered
or tried to offer a sacrifice, what would have happened to them?
The scriptures have been very plain. If they're not Levites,
kill them. That is the rule. And now we
find out that from eternity, God has chosen one in the council
halls of eternity, his son, to be the priest, the high priest,
the great high priest, and this one is going to come through
the tribe of Judah, not through the tribe of Levi. Going on here
says, for he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another
tribe of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For it is evident
that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing
concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident
that after the similitude of Melchizedek, there arises another
priest, who is made not after the law of carnal commandments,
but after the power of an endless life. for he testifieth thou
art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Who set
Melchizedek aside to be a priest and a king? Almighty God. There's no record of anything
else. Who set Aaron to be the priest? Moses. God ordered it, but it was Moses,
and Moses had one huge problem. He's a human being, and all he
can do is prepare to die. Well, the Lord Jesus. on purpose
predestinated himself to die on the cross, but he tells us
very plainly that no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down
of myself, that I might take it up again. And the church says
hallelujah. Here is a high priest that is
in complete and absolute control of his death, and he has a purpose
in doing it. What was the purpose of Aaron's
death? He died. Now we can be thankful that he
and Moses, neither one, got to go into the promised land, because
it is a picture and a type and a shadow to us, the church forever,
that the law had nothing to do with ever with us ever being
saved. It was not the law that brought
us salvation, it is Christ that brings us salvation. It was not
the law that gives us a new life in Christ, it is Christ that
does that. And that's why we find Joshua
became the leader of Israel when they entered into the land. Joshua
is the same name we find in the New Testament for Jesus. He is
called the Savior in the Old Testament. Jesus is called the
Savior for us. He is the eternal Savior. So
even Eliezer contributed nothing to this sacrifice of the red
heifer. He wasn't even asked to give
a prayer. Stand still and watch. That's all we can assume from
this. And someone else took over. The law was kept perfectly by
Christ, but the law had nothing to do with his ordained death. It was kept out. He suffered
without the camp. He was not taken up to the temple,
inside the temple, outside the temple. He was not taken up to
where even the women could go to. He was taken without the
camp. It tells us in the book of Hebrews.
Why? He was not participating in the
Levitical priesthood. He was outside the camp to show
that he is there on purpose by almighty God to lay down his
life, a ransom for many. This red heifer secured nobody's
salvation, but Jesus Christ has secured the salvation of all
those that were given to him by the Father before the foundation
of the world. Even Eliezer, the priest, had
to watch, had to observe. And I wonder if he wouldn't be
like me when that person that we don't even have a name of,
took that red heifer and slew it in his presence if his reaction
wasn't just, oh my. This is different than I thought
it would play out. In the book of Galatians, The
book of Galatians chapter 3. Would you turn there with me?
Galatians chapter 3 and verse 21. Here is another reason that Eliezer
could not participate. Here's another reason that the
law is not part of our spiritual well-being. Here's another reason
that God did not use the law to save us. It says here, is
the law then against the promises of God? God forbid, Galatians
3.21. For if there had been a law given,
which could have given life, verily righteousness should not
have been by the law. Excuse me, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture saith, hath
concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus
Christ might be given to all them that believe. For before
faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up under faith,
which should afterwards be revealed. So it's not part of our salvation.
God never used the law as a part of our salvation. If it could
have been, there would have been no need for grace. There would
have been no need for the salvation that the Lord has given us in
himself. The red heifer was slain and
burned in presence of Eleazar. We find that even in the New
Testament. Turn with me again to the book
of Matthew. The book of Matthew, as we look
down through here, we find that there was the priests were there,
here in the book of Matthew chapter 27. What an interesting statement
it is here. Chapter 27 of the book of Matthew
and there in verse 35, we read these words, and they crucified
him. Now, everybody was in agreement
about that. The politicians were in agreement,
the religionists were in agreement, And the Romans were in agreement.
They do it. And parted his garments, casting
lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet.
They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did
they cast lots. And sitting down, they watched
him there, and set over his head his accusation written." Now
this is his death warrant. This is why he's crucified. On
the other two, they put thieves or murders. On Him, they put,
this is Jesus, the King of the Jews. And there were two thieves
crucified with Him, one on the right hand and the other on the
left. And they that passed by reviled Him, wagging their heads,
saying, thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it three
days, save thyself, if thou be the Son of God. Come down from
the cross. Now look at verse 41. Likewise, also the chief priests mocking him with the scribes
and elders said, he saved others himself he cannot save. If he
be the king of the Israel, let him now come down from the cross
and we will believe him. You know what Abraham had to
say about that? If they'll not believe Moses
and the prophets, they'll not believe the one rose from the
dead. They wouldn't have believed if
he had to come down. You know where belief comes from?
God. That's the only place we get
belief, real belief. Now human belief will believe
anything. All you have to do is talk to people about science
and you'll find out there's a lot of different beliefs about science.
or false science or whatever you want to call it. That's people's
belief. But belief God given to his people
is that by faith we believe that God made the things that we see
from things that did not exist. And we say, how could that be?
Because God said it. Who was it that took over from
Eliezer leading that red heifer up. Eliezer collected that red
heifer from somebody out of all of Israel, brought it without
the camp, outside of all of the organization of how the camp
was set up around the tabernacle, brought it without that, brought
it past all of the inhabitants there, took this red heifer out
there somewhere without the camp, and turned it over to someone
we don't even have the name of. Someone, it says. Let's go back
over there to the book of Numbers chapter 19. Numbers chapter 19,
there in verse three, it says, and ye shall give her unto Eliezer
the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and
one shall slay her before his face. And in verse five, and
one shall burn the heifer in his sight, the skin and her flesh
and her blood and her dung shall he burn. Who is this? Who does this picture? the judge. Who is the judge? Who did this to the Savior? Who poured out his wrath on the
Savior? When Jesus Christ was given all
our sin, When he was imputed to him, as a yoke placed upon
him, who poured out his wrath on him? It certainly wasn't the
high priest that were around there, and it wasn't the law
that did that. It was not somebody that did
that. The book of Isaiah 53 says, and the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. The Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all. Let's go over there again to
Isaiah 53 and read verses 10, 11, and 12. Isaiah 53, verses
10, 11, and 12, it shares with us that it was far greater than
any man. It was far greater than the priesthood. It was far greater than the law.
It was far greater. It is Almighty God Himself that
is the one that is pictured here who took and slew that lamb,
or slew that red heifer, and also consumed that red heifer
in fire. In the book of Isaiah chapter
53, there in verses 10, 11, and 12,
the scriptures say this, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days, and
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall
see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. Who was
it that Jesus Christ cried out to on the cross? My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou far from the words
of my roaring? That's from Psalm 22. But herein
we read in the book of the New Testament, my God, my God. Why hast thou forsaken me? Goes
on to tell us, by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I
divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the
spoiled with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto
death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bear
the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. What? great performance the Savior
performed on that cross. He fulfilled all the covenant
of grace in that short time upon the cross, and He endured all
the eternity of the damnation for His children upon that cross
in such a short time. We find it was God the Father
who was delivered for our offenses, who delivered Him. God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit ordained it before the
foundation of the world that the Son would be delivered on
the behalf of those that were given to the Son by the Father
before the foundation of the world. My God, my God. Oh, and outside the camp, outside
the law, without the gate, this all took place. Nobody could
say the Levitical priesthood oversaw this because they were
saying, Mockery, mockery, mockery. Hebrews chapter 13, would you
turn with me there? Hebrews chapter 13 and verse
11 and 12. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 11
and 12. For the bodies of those beasts
whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest
for sin are burned without the camp. Wherefore, Jesus also,
that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, not by the
law. We're not sanctified by the law.
We're not sanctified by attempting to keep the law. Christ is our
sanctification. that he might sanctify the people
with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Nobody could
come by and say, well, well, look at that. He was there at
the temple when he did this. He was around the temple when
he did this. He was in Jerusalem when he did
this. The religious place, no. He was taken without the camp,
outside the gates of Jerusalem. He was taken out there on purpose.
They directed him out there. That man carried his cross out
there, and so it was. He was crucified without the
gate. Now, the law had nothing to do
with the salvation of his people, and Christ had everything to
do with the salvation of his people, for what the law could
not do in that it was weak through the flesh. Jesus Christ did by
his own blood. Now, there is, going back to
the book of Numbers again, chapter 19, there's something else that
this priest is going to do, and it's so pictorial. In the book
of Numbers, and that's found in verse 4 of chapter 19, something
the priest did. Now, he didn't collect the blood.
He didn't slaughter the red heifer. He didn't burn the red heifer.
He was no participant in that, but he did something here. Notice
that 19 verse and Eliezer verse four, the priest. shall take of her blood with
his finger and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle
of the congregation seven times. Now it's interesting that that
word, to sprinkle, carries with it to toss or scatter abundantly. It wasn't just a little, he got
his hands bloody. And he did it seven times. What
he did was a picture of the absolute perfection of what Christ's blood
accomplished. Absolute perfection. The blood
of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. We read in the
book of, we got to go to the New Testament again. Hebrews
and first Peter, if you would join me there. In the book of
Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 24, Hebrews chapter 12 and verse
24, we gotta go over here, we must go over here and read this
about this very thing. Chapter 12 of the book of Hebrews
and verse 24, the scripture shared with us there, also talks about his blood of
sprinkling. It says here, and to Jesus, the
mediator of the new covenant, what the old covenant could not
do because of the weakness of our flesh. What does that mean?
We couldn't keep it. Now God didn't change his mind
when he found out his people, Israel, couldn't keep the law.
He already had his mind, in his mind, before the foundation of
the world, that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, would
come and lay down his life, a ransom for many. And that's the only
way that God could forgive sin. It must be paid for by his Son.
Well, here it says, Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant.
and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than
that of Abel. This blood of Jesus Christ, it
speaks here, and let's go over to 1 Peter 1 and verse 2 and
read that, and then we'll make some comments about it. 1 Peter
1 and verse 2. Scripture say this, Peter's writing
to a group of people that if he had met them all, they'd all
sit down and have fellowship. You know, it's just like that.
When we meet people that know the gospel, it's so quickly we're
friends. When I met Brother Rupert and
we started talking about the gospel, immediately we're friends. I mean, we thought we'd known
each other all our life. I visited with Brother Ed up
there in Canada. It took about 10 minutes and
we found out we know the same God in visiting with you folks. We're great friends because we
have a commonality in Christ Jesus. He's taken care of all
our sin. He's paid all our debt, and that's
who we're trusting. Well, here in 1 Peter, it says, elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you and peace be
multiplied. Now, what does this mean about
the sprinkling of blood? Well, first of all, we know that
when Eleazar was given a basin of blood, that he's going to
sprinkle seven times, that this red heifer is dead. Death has
taken place. So when we're talking about the
sprinkling of blood, the blood of Jesus Christ, he died for
his people. He's dead. He wasn't going through
a fake service here. He died. He died on the cross. He died the death on the cross. And we find here that the blood
of sprinkling means the application of the whole benefits of Christ's
sacrifice and death to the soul of his redeemed. He spreads that
quality of his sacrificial death on the cross out to his people. He spreads it to us, he gives
it to his people. You know, symbolically it was
given to Israel as a picture of the church, but the Lord Jesus
Christ, by the sprinkling of blood, gives the benefits of
his death on the cross for sin to the church by the sprinkling
of blood. This blood of sprinkling means
the application of the whole benefit of Christ. the sacrifice and death to the
souls of his redeemed, which means full atonement. Now, in closing, would you turn
with me to First John Chapter 2. First John Chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 2. Well, let's read verses 1 and
2. My little children, these things write unto you that
you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Hallelujah. Now I think it should be every
believer's desire every morning when they wake up, Lord keep
me from sinning. Lord keep me from sinning. But
knowing full well the frailty of our flesh, he says we have
an advocate. Now he didn't say you're going
to have to answer for that. He says we have an advocate.
He didn't say because you did that, you're going to have to
stand before God in judgment. He said we have an advocate,
one who is there to take and mediate for us and say, see these
marks in my hands and my feet? That's pavement. We have an advocate with a father,
Jesus Christ the righteous. Now notice this, and he is the
propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for
the sins of the whole world. Now I'm not gonna get an argument
what that word world means, but I will discuss what the word
propitiation means. The word propitiation means appeasement
or Atonement. Now, he is the propitiation for
everyone that he atoned for. Now, if you go to hell because
of your sin, it is very clear that he did not propitiate for
you or you would not be there. He propitiated, he atoned, he
paid the price for everyone that he is going to say on the right
hand side, welcome to the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. That is the only reason that
God would write in his scriptures in Malachi and in Romans, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now he could only love Jacob
because of grace and he could only hate Esau because he had
no grace for him, had no propitiation for him, had no atonement for
him, paid nothing for him. He is alone. He is the propitiation
for our sins. That means he took care of every
last one of them. Full atonement was made and then Well, I've got to read one more
verse, passage in the book of Hebrews again, and with this
we close. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 26. Verse 24 says, For Christ has
not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are a
figure of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear
in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should suffer
himself often as the high priest entered into the holy place every
year with the blood of others. For then must he have often have
suffered since the foundation of the world, but now once in
the end of the world, he hath appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. So he put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And that's the only way it can
be put away. So Eleazar, he had nothing to do with this. someone
else unidentified, which is truly a picture of God Almighty taking
care of what was necessary. And that was justice meted out
to his son in such a way, when he died on the cross, he paid
for every last sin imputed to him. And that's the only way
we can say, saved by grace, saved by grace, All I am is saved by
grace. Brother Mike.