Let's go to the book of Exodus
to start with. Exodus chapter 25. I know you're envious. I need
a little bit of this Ohio River water. It actually tastes pretty good. Exodus chapter 25, that's where
we're going to start. Those of you who are the Lord's
people, ask God to bless in these moments. Would you, deep from within your
soul, Let's each of us beseech the
Lord to bless His Word. You know, nothing will be done
of any spiritual significance today unless the Lord speaks. Oh, I need Him so desperately,
and you do too. I'm so thankful that he said
where two or three are gathered together, gathered together in
his name, he said he'd be with us. He's gathered us. I believe
he's gathered us, don't you? We didn't gather ourselves. I
fully believe that everybody who is in this service today
was meant to be here. I know you decided to be here
and you made a choice that you would prepare yourself to attend
this service. But long before you made your
choice, God made His choice. And that resulted in your choice
to come today. You're here because God brought
you. Now, I wonder why God brought you. Well, he may have brought
you to soften your heart through the word, or he may have brought
you to even make your heart a little harder. I don't know. But I do know this, the Lord
has gathered us together. Let's be like Samuel who said,
Speak Lord, thy servant heareth. I'm ready to hear, aren't you?
I'm ready to hear what God the Lord will say to us today. Let's start this way. Before
Adam transgressed God's law, he did that. It's recorded back
in Genesis chapter 3. Before God's law was broken by
Adam, That first man lived in unity
with the Lord. He had good fellowship with the
Lord. And we know that the Lord entered
into a covenant with Adam. That covenant essentially said,
God said to Adam, if you obey me, you continue to obey me,
you'll live. But in the day you disobey me,
you are going to die. Obey me and live, disobey and
die. Well, Adam disobeyed and he died. He broke the covenant, he violated
God's law, and immediately something happened. He died spiritually,
and that fellowship, that blessed communion, that wonderful companionship
that he had with the Lord, it came to an end. Now many years
later, many years later, under the Mosaic Law, the Lord dwelt
with Israel in a symbolical way, and he met with them for fellowship
and for communion. He dwelt in the Holy of Holies. And that's where he said he would
meet with one man once a year. Now let's read here in Exodus
chapter 25. And I want you to look at verses
21 and 2. Chapter 25, verse 21. Exodus 25, 21, And thou shalt
put the mercy seat above the ark, and in the ark thou shalt
put the testimony that I shall give thee. Now watch this, And
there I will meet with thee. Chapter 25 of Exodus verse 22,
And there I will meet with thee. And I will commune with thee
from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims, which
are upon the ark of the testimony of all things which I will give
thee in commandment unto the children of Israel." The Lord
said, that's where I'll meet with you. Nowhere else. Nowhere
else. In all the world. I don't know how many nations
were in existence back then, but I do know this. No matter
how many nations existed throughout the world, there was just one
location where the Lord God of glory would meet with men and
men would meet with Him that was at the tabernacle in the
most holy place over the mercy seat between the cherubims. I know that because that's what
God said. Just one location. Just one meeting
place between God and men. And does that not speak to us
of our Lord Jesus who is the only meeting place between a
holy God and sinful man? There aren't many ways to God. There aren't several places that
you can meet with the Lord. There's only one meeting place,
one way to God. And that one way is a living
way. That one way is somebody. And through that somebody's death,
burial, and resurrection, that's where God meets with sinners
and sinners meet with God. And God's not going to meet with
sinners anywhere else, no matter what the degree of sincerity
in the sinner. No matter how well-meaning the
sinner may be, our God has spoken. He has made this absolutely crystal
clear. He will meet with sinners in,
through, and by the crucified, buried, risen Lamb of God and
nowhere else. And God is insistent upon this. And because God is insistent
upon this, we must be insistent upon this. There's nowhere else
to meet with God. If you would have communion with
God and God would have communion with you, If you would have fellowship
with the living God, and the living God have fellowship with
you, there must be only one meeting place that will suit all of God's
purposes and fulfill all of your needs, and that's only in the
person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope you get
that. If you don't get anything else
that this preacher says, if you don't remember anything else
I say when you go out this door, oh may God the Spirit impress
this upon our hearts. Nowhere else but Christ Jesus. Nowhere else but Christ Jesus. And in this tabernacle, in this
Holy of Holies, we know there was only that light above the
cherubim, that Shekinah glory of God, there was only the symbolic
residence of God. Because God cannot be held, the
greatness of God cannot be contained in a room that's only 15 feet
wide and 15 feet long. That was the size of the most
holy place. In fact, the Lord said in the
book of Isaiah, Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that ye will
build me? Where is the place of my rest? So I emphasize this. In a symbolical
way, this was where the Lord dwelt. And this was where He
would meet with men. This is where he would show himself
to be among the people and abide with them throughout their wilderness
journey. Now go with me to the book of
Hebrews chapter 9. Now though the Lord was with
Israel, Though the Lord was with Israel,
though He made His presence known among them, let it be understood,
His presence, it was hidden away from them behind a veil. There was a veil. There was the
outer court. Then you entered into the holy
place, and then the most holy place. And there was a veil separating
the holy place from the most holy place, and into that most
holy place, that holy of holies, only one man could go, and then
only one day of the year. That's the day of atonement that
we'll be talking about again in a few moments. And when he
went in there, he must not go in there without blood. Now while God was indeed with
Israel, His very presence, it was hidden away from them behind
that veil. In fact, that veil may as well
have had a sign on it that said, keep out, this means you. Everybody had to keep out except
for the high priest. He could only enter in once a
year. Look at Hebrews chapter 9 and
verse 7. Chapter 9 of Hebrews and verse
7. But into the second, into that
second room, which is what I've been talking about, into the
second went the high priest alone once every year, not with our
blood, And as we're going to see, it was the blood of a bullock
and the blood of a goat. Into the second, into the holiest
of all, went the high priest alone, no assistance, no one
to help him, no one to carry the censer, no one to carry the
bowl of blood, He went in once a year, by himself now, he went
in alone once a year, not with our blood, which he offered for
himself, and that's the blood of the bullock. The blood of
the bullock was offered for himself. And he offered that for himself,
and then for the heirs of the people, that's the blood of the
goat. And look at verse 8. 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, which was a figure
for the time then present. The word figure literally means
a parable. You can write that in your Bible,
a parable. It was a parable in which were
offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that
did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience. Now access into the presence
of God was granted to only one man. And that one man could only
enter into the presence of God one day of the year. The way
into the holiest, it says, was not yet made manifest. That is, not yet made visible. The way was not made visible
until God's Son came into this world when the invisible God
was made visible. When God clothed His deity with
flesh and men could see Him. You see, our Lord Jesus did in
reality what Aaron and his work only portrayed. Our Lord Jesus
offered unto God the sacrifice of Himself which actually put
away sins, not merely covered them. You see, the word atonement
means covered. When Aaron went and covered the
mercy seat with blood, sprinkling the mercy seat seven times with
blood, and then sprinkling in front of the mercy seat seven
times with blood, that meant the sins of Israel were merely
covered for a year. That's what the word atonement
means. Covered. But our Lord Jesus,
when He died, He didn't merely cover over sin, He removed them. His blood washed them away. His blood separated them from
those who were guilty of the sin as far as the east is from
the west. It says that our Savior cast
our sins behind the very back of God. And God said the sins
and iniquities of His people He will remember no more. He cast our sins into the sea
of forgetfulness. How powerful is the blood of
the Lord Jesus? So powerful that it erases sin
from its existence as far as God is concerned. And that's
the only one who matters is what God's concerned about. Our Lord Jesus died for our sins
according to the Scriptures. He paid our sin debt with His
own blood and He opened up the way to God for all those in whose
stead He died. Look at Hebrews chapter, the
next chapter, chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
18. Verse 17, he says, in their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more. What a blessed, blessed
verse of Scripture. Oh, what peace. What rest that
affords God's people. Now, verse 18. Now, where remission
of these is, there is no more offering for sin. having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us through
the veil, that is to say, His flesh, and having an high priest
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." Listen,
the veil has been rent. That veil that separated the
holy place from the holy of holies. That veil that essentially said,
keep out, this means you. When the Lord Jesus died, that
veil in the temple was rent not from bottom to the top, but from
the top to the bottom, indicating God did it. The Lord opened up
the way. The Lord of glory. That One who
is now the King of kings and the Lord of lords by the power
of His own blood. He rent the veil in two. And that's good news for us.
It means the way to God is now open. That which was previously shut
off. That place where no sinner could
go except the High Priest of Israel. No one else could go
into the presence of God. That has now been opened for
vile, filthy sinners like me and like you. We enter into the
presence of God Almighty by a new and living way. And that new
and living way is the Lord Jesus Christ. The way to God is opened
up for poor sinners based upon the remission of sins by the
blood of Christ Jesus. And therefore, as our brother
read to us a little earlier, let us therefore come boldly
to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace
to help us in time of need. Let's come boldly. Not come timidly,
as though God won't really receive us. Not come in a way of unbelief,
as though God won't be as good as His Word. Listen, Christ has
died. Our sins have been put away.
And every sinner who believes Christ Jesus may rest assured
that their faith is evidence that the way to God for them
has been opened up and all who come to God by the new and living
way will be accepted. Even you. And even me. Yes, indeed. Now go back to Leviticus
chapter 16. Now as we look back at Leviticus
chapter 16, of course this is hundreds of years before the
Lord Jesus ever came into the world. The Lord in this chapter
tells Moses concerning Aaron of that appointed way by which
Aaron could draw near to God by atonement That is, by the
blood of an appointed sacrifice. Atonement means covering again. And on this day, the sins of
Israel were ceremonially covered by the blood of animals. This is the Day of Atonement.
It was to the Jew back then a glorious, very high day, and it still remains
to the Jewish nation a high day. It is Yom Kippur. The Day of
Atonement. But what the Jewish nation as
a whole does not understand and does not realize, Messiah has
already come. The great Day of Atonement has
already taken place 2,000 years ago at the cross. So there is
no more Day of Atonement in reality. Because God's sacrifice for sins
has died. Well, on this day of atonement,
the high priest of Israel would come to the Lord on the basis
of blood that was shed, even as the Savior said in John 14,
6, No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. Now this was it. This is the way. This is the
way. Leviticus chapter 16. It's a chapter full of the gospel. And we'll visit it over and over
again, and depending on how many years my ministry lasts, we'll
come back to this a lot. You know, if you're in real estate,
the three most important words in real estate, you know what
they are? Location, location, location.
That's what they say. The most important word in business. Location, location, location.
Somebody asked a minister one time, to what do you attribute
the success of your ministry? He said, repetition, repetition,
repetition. Repetition of what? The gospel
of Christ Jesus. And I say as the Apostle Paul
to declare the same thing to you again today, for me it's
not grievous, it's not troublesome, for you it's needy. Repetition. And in Leviticus chapter 16,
we see the gospel of our Lord Jesus set forth in a glorious
way. as one man comes to God by way
of the blood on the behalf of a bunch of other people. This
man Aaron, he's a representative. He's a mediator. The Lord has
selected him to be the high priest of Israel. And the nation of
Israel, that's who he represents. And on this day of atonement,
He does business with God for all of them. The safety, the
welfare of all of Israel rested upon the shoulders of one man. Everything is dependent upon
that one man doing things exactly as God demanded that they be
done. The very covering of their sins
for another year is dependent upon that man doing things in
such a fashion that will satisfy the demands of a holy and just
God. Don't you see a picture of the
gospel there? Our Lord Jesus, one man, but
oh what a man. He's the God-man. He does business
with God on behalf of His nation, the nation of Israel, a spiritual
nation. And elect people from every nation,
kindred, tribe, and tongue. And our salvation is dependent
upon, it rests upon the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus doing
things exactly the way God demands that they be done. and see Him
living a life of perfection in accordance to God's law. And then behold Him going to
the cross, where all of the sins of all of His people of all the
ages where they had been charged to Him, they are imputed to Him
as the Bible word. And our Lord Jesus suffered,
bled, and died under the wrath of God so that God could be just
and justify the ungodly. I tell you, the salvation, the
forgiveness, the remission of sins, the acceptance of a multitude
that no man can number is all dependent upon that one individual
doing things in such a fashion that a holy and a just And a
righteous God will be absolutely satisfied. It all rests on His
shoulders. I'll tell you about Aaron the
high priest and our Lord Jesus as well. Number one, he was a
chosen man. He was a chosen man. The Lord
chose Aaron. He didn't volunteer for the job. The Lord picked him out. And of our Lord Jesus, the Father
said, I have chosen one out of the people. Psalm 89. I have
laid help upon one who is mighty. The Lord said, behold mine elect. You read for us in Hebrews chapter
5 and verse 4. No man taketh this honor unto
himself, but he that is called of God
as was Aaron. Aaron didn't volunteer to be
the high priest of Israel. Aaron was God's man. He was God's
choice. He was God's provision. They
needed a representative. They needed a mediator. They needed somebody to stand
between themselves and a gloriously holy God. A God who is thrice
holy. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God of hosts. They needed that man. They needed
a man who would be a mediator. Who would deal with God because
they couldn't deal with God. They needed a man who would go
before the Lord on the behalf of themselves. God chose Aaron. And our Lord Jesus, He was chosen
by the Father. Even the rulers of Israel, they
knew that Messiah was to be the chosen of God. Listen to what
they said at the crucifixion in Luke 23.35. And the people stood beholding,
and the rulers also with them derided, saying, He saved others,
let Him save Himself, if He be the Christ, the Chosen of God. Even the rulers of Israel knew
that the One who was to save His people from their sins was
the One chosen of God. Before the world began, God chose
the Savior, and then in the Savior, He chose the people the Savior
would save. He said, Christ, be my first
elect. Then He chose us in the Son. He was chosen by God to be the
head of the church. Chosen to be the mediator between
God and men. Chosen to be the savior and the
redeemer of lost sinners. Chosen to be the foundation and
the chief cornerstone of a spiritual building not made with the hands
of men. He was chosen to be the judge
of the quick and the dead. God chose him. Just like God
chose Aaron. God chose Christ Jesus His Son. And let me tell you this, and
I'll get into this more again tonight. Aaron came before the
Lord. This chosen man, he came before
the Lord to do the work of a high priest on the day of atonement. He came before the Lord to do
this work in the garments of an ordinary priest. Of just a
common priest. The Lord had given to Aaron glorious
garments. They're set forth back in Leviticus
chapter 8. You can read about them. And on every other day of the
year, Aaron wore what the people were accustomed to call the golden
garments. That's what Israel called the
garments of Aaron. The golden garments. Oh, he had
a miter that he wore with a plate of pure gold that adorned his
brow that was tied with brilliant blue. He had the splendid breastplate
studded with gems adorned with pure gold set with precious stones. He had the glorious ephod. He
had the bells and the pomegranates. He had all the other ornaments
and adornments of his golden garments. But on this day, on
this day, the golden mitre was laid aside. The embroidered vest, it was
put away. The breastplate was taken off. And he came out with simply four
garments. Look with me in Leviticus chapter
16. Look at verse 4. He shall put
on the holy linen coat. That's garment number one. He
shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, number two. He'll
be girded with a linen girdle, number three, and with a linen
mitre shall he be attired. These are the holy garments,
therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on."
He looked like every other priest. He didn't have his distinguishing
garments on. Those garments that marked Him
and recognized Him, made the people recognize, this is the
high priest. No, He laid all those garments
aside, the golden garments, He laid those aside and He put on
the plain white linen garments. The garments of an ordinary priest. Our Lord Jesus. when he made
reconciliation to God for our sins. He didn't make the atonement
arrayed in all the glories of his ancient throne in heaven.
He wasn't robed in his royal robe, though they gave him an
old purple rag to put on and then stripped him of that. In
his hand there was no scepter, for the scepter of the universe
belongs to him. No, he laid that scepter aside,
except they did put a reed in his hand. They thrust that into
his hand in cruel contempt. He wore no sandals of pure gold. He wasn't dressed like a king.
All of the splendors which make Him, which show Him to be the
mighty One that He is, He laid those aside. And looking like those for whom
He came to die, He laid Himself down as the sacrifice
for sin. He didn't have a halo over His
head. There was no beauty, Isaiah said,
no beauty that we would desire Him. Nothing to set Him apart from
everybody else, at least visibly. And then He hung on a cross naked
in His shame. He hung there between heaven
and earth. Somebody said earth wouldn't
have Him and heaven couldn't have Him. And there He hung,
suffering, bleeding and dying, not for His own sins, for He
had none, but for those charged to Him, those imputed to Him. The sins of all of His people
being cast upon Him. And He answered for them. The
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. And then he bore that
away so that Jesus paid it all. Oh my soul, let me adore the
Lord Jesus who made atonement for me, who humbled himself and
wrapped himself in a garment of inferior flesh. And he did
that for me. And He did that for all of His
people. He laid aside His throne and
He wrapped Himself in earthly flesh. Oh, adore Him, for on that day
it was just the simple, very clean linen of His own body. And you notice the Lord said
linen. Linen. That's what the high priests
were. White. O behold, our pure, innocent,
guiltless, spotless Lamb of God, dying for sin, charged to Him,
though He Himself had no sin. In order to redeem us, to save
us, He clothed Himself with humility. The Scripture says he was made
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. He was made like
unto his brethren, those he came to save. Just like Aaron looked
like his sons. They were dressed the same way. The words of the Apostle rang
forth, but you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
though he was rich, Yet for your sakes he became poor, that you
through his poverty might be rich. For he hath made him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him." Only in him. Note that Aaron then was robed
in linen garments which were white, indicating purity, blamelessness,
and spotlessness. And remember, he was a parable.
He was a figure of him who was to come, the pure and spotless
Lamb of God. Of Aaron and his sacrifices that
he offered, we must say this, they were imperfect. They were
imperfect. You see, Aaron was an imperfect
man. That's why right at the beginning,
right there at the end of verse 4, he had to wash his flesh in
water. As we'll see tonight, when he
goes before the Lord, he's first of all got to have a sacrifice
for himself, a bullock. Because something's got to be
done about his sins. He can't do anything about the
sins of anybody else, so something's got to be done about his sin.
And you'll notice again, he'll have to wash. At the end of the
chapter, he'll have to wash. He's an impure man. And he offers
an imperfect sacrifice. For had it been perfect, he wouldn't
have had to offer another sacrifice ever again. It was an imperfect
man offering an imperfect sacrifice. But, our Lord Jesus, He's the
perfect man. Blameless in every way. Never
contaminated with the sin even that was charged to his account.
Never contaminated. Always pure and holy. The just
who died for the unjust to bring us to God. He's the perfect one
who offered the sacrifice and he is himself the perfect sacrifice
offered for sin. And God is satisfied. That's
what an empty tomb announces. And God is satisfied with what
He did. Thank God He actually accomplished
the work of redemption and reconciliation. He's gone back to glory and sat
down at the Father's right hand. Listen, we have a mediator with
the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. Come
on sinner! Come on! No man cometh unto the
Father but by Him. But everybody who comes to the
Father through Jesus Christ can rest assured of this. You'll
be accepted. You'll be welcomed. Come on,
sinner. Come on. What are you waiting on? Oh God,
give a new heart. Give a new heart of faith. Oh
God the Spirit, take away the heart of stone and give a heart
of flesh. that will believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and give Him the glory for everything. He's our great High Priest. Alright, let's sing a song.