Alright, in verse 10, Hebrews
13, we have an altar whereof they
have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the bodies
of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by
the high priest for sin are burned without the count. Wherefore
Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood,
suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto
him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we
no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him, therefore,
let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that
is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Now look
at verse 10 again. We have an altar, and we'll be
looking at that this morning. Now what we have read here in
the book of Hebrews, near unto the end of it, is a part of the
clothing, instruction, and exhortation that the apostle is giving unto
those concerning the Christian faith and their life. And he
writes these things in order that he might fortify them against
the error present and prevalent in that day and the deceivers
that were present and prevalent in that day. and that he might
make them grounded and steadfast in the faith of the gospel and
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in reading in the New Testament
epistle, we find this very common practice in the writing of the
apostle, that after their greeting, after exposing and correcting
any error, and after setting forth sound doctrine, then they
usually close out with exhortation and instruction for them to walk
in the way. So in Hebrews chapter 13, as
Owen wrote, having laid the foundation in the person and the office
of Christ, He gives exhortation unto evangelical and unto moral
duties and living. For example, look back in verse
1 of this very same chapter. Let brotherly love continue. What an exhortation. In the second
verse, entertain strangers unaware, those that might be dispersed
by persecution in that particular day. And we look at verse 3,
remember them suffering for their faith. Verse 4, he speaks of
the sanctity of marriage. even in that day. And in verse
7 and verse 17 of that same chapter, he speaks to them about their
duty and their relationship unto their minister and to those that
had the rule over them in the gospel and in the church. But our present text and subject
is found in verse 10. It is but four words in our Bible. We have an Now, as we noted earlier
in one of those studies, the we here, as we see it, refers
to we Christian, we believers, we followers of the Lamb and
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so does the pronoun us, we
and us. We, us, and our is seen as the
apostle uses it in this particular place and it refers to those
who profess to walk after and to serve the Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. And particularly and especially
is it relevant under those Jews in that day who had embraced
Christ in the Christian gospel but had been practitioners of
Judaism in their former life and day, fully immersed in Judaism
in their time past, living by it. But now, having professed
Christ, having heard the gospel, having begun to worship in the
Christian way, there were two temptations that were a danger
unto them, and the apostle makes that very clear. Number one,
there was the temptation on their part, having been Jews and having
been in Judaism, there was the temptation to bring a part of
Judaism over and to mix it in with Christianity, and try to
hold both of them, and mix both of them, and reconcile them.
And this is a thing, by the way, that is continued even unto our
day, but most people don't recognize it. Secondly, there was the tendency
and the temptation to abandon Christianity and return again
to full Judaism, which some of them did to their hurt and to
their destruction. And you have that discussed in
two places in Hebrews, in chapter 6, verse 4-8, chapter 10, verse
26-29. and the awful consequences of
apostatizing away from the Christian gospel and returning again unto
Judaism. So here is a point for us to
remember when studying or reading, especially the book of Hebrew,
that it is the book, it is the book, emphasis, to put Judaism
and Christianity in their proper relationship one unto another
in their proper perspective, the book of Hebrews is the best
at doing that. Judaism and Christianity, therefore,
are not to be mixed together. Judaism contained types and shadows
of better things to come, which had and found their substance
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we're done away. and
brought to an end when Christ came and died. And the Hebrew
epistle was especially relevant under the then circumstances
of the Jew, that their religion had been typical and temporary,
and that it was intended to end and give way unto Christianity
when Christ came. So that Christianity came in
its place when Messiah came. Now, I want us to look at some
passages surrounding our particular verse, that is verse 10. Notice
in verse 11 that we read, it described what was done in Judaism
with a sacrifice. Their bodies were put on the
altar, but their carcasses were taken without the camp, and there
they were burned, completely burned and consumed. So the question
now is, and it was in my mind for a long time, why the author
brings in the words here, we have an altar. Why not say we
have a high priest, we have a sacrifice, we have a temple. But here he
says under them, we have an altar. So what is the connection with
the flow of thought and the doctrine. How does this fit? What does
it mean that Christians have an altar? And particularly, what
is the spiritual meaning of the words, we have an altar? And then What is the essence
of this altar that the apostle is talking about? For example,
is it material? Is it made of brick or mortar
or gold or silver? Or is it a spiritual altar? And is this altar on the earth
or is it in heaven? what is offered upon it. Who are the offerers that offer
upon this altar? For you see, an altar is a place
of sacrifice. When we think about an altar,
we think automatically about a sacrifice upon it. So, we have an altar. Now, if we were to drop back
to verse 9 of this chapter, be not carried about with divers
and strange doctrine, for it is a good thing that the heart
be established with grace. not with meats which have not
profited them which have been occupied therein. We have an
altar whereby they that serve the tabernacle have no right
to eat. In verse 8, he had said this,
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Therefore,
the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of the gospel, never changes,
never will change. It is one and the same. Christ is the same yesterday,
and today, and forever. And because of that, being anchored
to Christ, and be not carried away with diverse or different
or strange doctrine. Because it is good that the heart
be established in the grace of God, confirmed in the grace of
God. And notice those three words,
not with meat. And that has something to do
with Jews and Judaism. The contrast being between grace
and meat. of the births, which hath not
profited them that have been occupied therein." That is, the
meats of those altars have not profited them that were occupied
therein. I did a little word study of
this word occupied. It is a word that is dozens of
times in the New Testament. Again and again we see it. But
this may be the only time where it has been translated by the
word occupied. As it is everywhere else that
we meet the word, it is walk, or walking, or walked in the
past ten. Because the word actually means
to tread around. to walk at large, to live, to
deport oneself, and it means to live in accordance with, for
those that live in accordance with it, by a meat. And the apostle,
I believe, intends two thoughts here for us to glean out of this. Number one, the religious distinction
and restriction on food and meat that had been imposed upon the
Jew under the Mosaic system or institution. There was strict
observances about meat and what could be eaten and what could
not, and what was clean and what was unclean over the old economy. John Brown referred to them as
sacred meats, quote unquote. But then secondly, there is another
thing. The Mosaic institution is expressed
here by meats. That's kind of unusual for that
to be done in the New Testament. So to walk in meat, as John Owen
observed, is to assent to, it is to agree, it is to agree with
the doctrine as well as to observe it. To walk in me is to believe
it and to practice or observe it. Just as the word grace is
the doctrine of salvation in Christ set forth in the gospel,
which is all and only of grace. Grace is the free favor, the
goodwill, the love of God given in the Lord Jesus Christ to those
that he pleases. Then notice the apostle having
brought in and having spoken of meats, the Apostle does immediately
mention or speak of the altar. We have an altar. For there is
an intimate connection, and I want to labor this point and for us
to see it in the Scripture, for there is an intimate connection
between the meat and the altar which establishes a connection
between the eater of the meat and the altar. So those two things,
there is a connection between the meat and the altar and between
the eater and the altar. hoping that I don't break our
train of thought to go off here for a little digression, but
let's consider some scripture concerning the altar and the
people of God. You have a saying from our Lord
in Matthew chapter 23, verse 16 through verse 19. It is a part of the Lord's rebuke
and correction of the Pharisee for their frivolous intention
and practices concerning swearing and oath. in olden times, involving
the connection between, number one, the temple and the goal. And the question that our Lord
raises is this, which is greater, the temple or the goal? Which
sanctifies which? But then secondly, the altar
and the gift, as our Lord speaks about that. Which is greater,
the altar or the gift? Again, which sanctifies which? Spurgeon wrote, the sanctity
lay in the temple, not the gold, and in the altar and not the
gift, unquote. That the altar sanctified the
gift. that was placed or put up on
it. And then again, remember Paul
when he is reasoning with the Corinthians about eating meat
that had been sacrificed unto idol. 1 Corinthians 8, 1 Corinthians
10. Paul gives them reasoning and
instruction. For there were some at Corinth
that ate the meat that had been sacrificed to a heathen god in
a heathen temple by a heathen priest. And this offended some
of the other brethren that were there, the ones that Paul called
weak. And those eaters, those who ate
that meat without compunction or guilt of conscience, they
who ate that meat claiming that they did so out of the full knowledge
that an idol is nothing in the world, 1 Corinthians 8, 1 through
7. Paul agrees with that, but he
tells them, some of a weak conscience see it as a thing having been
sacrificed unto an idol. Again, slain by a heathen priest
in a heathen temple and to a heathen god. 1 Corinthians 8 and verse
7. Later, in 1 Corinthians 10 and
15-21, he reasons with them about two examples in order that he
might show the connection between the ordinance and the partaker. Between the ordinance and the
partaker, the connection. Two of them. And we might look
at them and notice them. Example number one. The Lord's Supper. You have that
in 1 Corinthians 10, 16, and 17. Paul makes a great point. If we haven't caught it, we need
to catch it. Paul uses the word here meaning
to share or to fellowship or to have in common or to participate. And he says this, the cup we
drink and the bread that we eat are they not the communion with
the body and the blood of Christ who said this is my body, this
is my blood broken for you and shed for you and shed for the
remission of sin This do in remembrance of me, because it showed the
Lord's death until He come again. In 1 Corinthians 11 and verse
26, Paul's point is this. This is not done, that is, the
Lord's Supper or Communion. The Lord's Supper is not done
as a common meal, neither to quench thirst or hunger. The Lord's Supper is not to that
intent. It is done as an act of religious
reverence and of worship and of service and with very deep
significance. We drink that cup and eat that
bread. Even so, says the Apostle in
1 Corinthians 10, 19 and 20. The things that the Gentiles
sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, that is, to demons and
not to God. Those sacrifices are not made
to God, but unto demons. You'll see that in Deuteronomy
chapter 32 and verse 17. And listen to the last part of
the 20th verse there in that chapter. I would not that you
should have fellowship with devils, literally, with demons. I don't
want you to be sharers with demons. And that's how Paul reasons with
them and leaves the matter of the eating of idols. But here's
example number two. And it's found in 1 Corinthians
9, 13 and 10 and 18. And he says this unto them. Behold Israel after the flesh. That is, behold the Jew, behold
the nation of Israel in their religion and in their practice
of it. are not they which eat of the
sacrifices partakers of the altar?" is the question that he puts
before them. And they did. They ate part of
the sacrifice off of the altar. Leviticus chapter 7 and verse
15. Israel after the flesh. fleshly
Israelite, descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, living under
the old Aramosaic economy. Now, we remember Noah built an
altar, Genesis 8 and verse 20. Abraham built an altar, Genesis
chapter 12 and verse 7. Isaac built an altar, Genesis
26 and verse 25. Now, this is a good place to
make the point. under that economy, the old economy,
Judaism, under that economy, there were certain people, certain,
that ate a portion of certain sacrifices which were offered
upon the altar. Sometime, it was the priests
who ate part of the sacrifice. Leviticus 6.26, Numbers 18, 9 and 10. Parts of some offering
were allowed to be eaten by the people, the ordinary common people
of the congregation who brought their sacrifice. Thus, such offerings
were both a sacrifice to God and a food to live by to nourish
the body. One wrote, this food was considered
sacred because it had been upon the altar, and eating of it was
an important religious privilege." By this they became partakers
of or with the altar. By eating that which had been
sacrificed and burned and cooked upon the altar. So when Paul
or the Apostle said, we have an altar, in Hebrews 13 and 10,
this is just another example of proof. that just about everything
used under the old economy was typical of something under the
new. That just about everything was
typical and therefore had a counterpart or an anti-type in the more excellent
system of Christianity. Let's look at it very quickly.
They had a priest, did they not? Where's our priest? We have a
more excellent priest who lives forever and is even at the right
hand of God. If Aaron served in an earthly
tabernacle, where does our priest serve? He serves in the heavenly
tabernacle. It had sacrifice it for sin.
We have a better sacrifice for sin the Lord Jesus Christ. If they had a tabernacle, our
Lord serves in the tabernacle of God in heaven itself. If they had an altar, we have
a better altar and a better sacrifice to put upon it. And if the Jews
partook of their altar, and even ate manna, which some had called
angel food in Psalms 78 and 25, yet the Christian has meat to
eat that the carnal Jew knew nothing of. If they had a Sabbath
day and a rest of the body, we have a Sabbath and a spiritual
rest for our soul. So everything had an antitype
and a counterpart in Christianity. Now, back to verse 10 in our
text. And again, the whole verse, but
we looking at it, we have an altar. There was a tabernacle
in Israel, you know all about that. There was a sacred tent
at first, if we may call it that, and that had an altar. There was an altar. You know
where it stood? It stood at the gate of the entrance
going in to that tabernacle. The designs, the dimensions of
it, you have described for us over in the book of Exodus chapter
27 and verse 1 through 8. It was square in dimension. It
had horns on the corner of it. Often they lay hold of those. It was overlaid with brass. It
had a grate upon it where the sacrifice went. It had ash pans. It had staves to carry it when
it went from place to place. They had shovels. They had flesh
hooks. They had fire pans. We learn
all of that from that passage in the Old Testament. Here in
the gate. the priest offered the sacrifice
to God. And the gifts, the offerings,
were sacrificed by being put upon that altar. And as we said,
some of the offering, the priest ate a part of it, it was their
part, and some of it the people. Now note what is said about this
altar. they would serve the tabernacle,
have no right to eat of it. We have an altar, and they that
serve on the Jewish altar have no right to eat. Now, they could
eat off of that tabernacle altar. Some was permitted to be eaten. the flesh of animals they could
take to their dwellings and eat. Those who have no right to eat
from this altar, such as serve the tabernacle, which would be
the Levitical priest and then the people who worshipped under
that system. From the altar they could have
no interest in this altar that is our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the two altars are not compatible. therefore cannot eat off of both
of them at the same time. Now, concerning this altar that
we have, it's time to face the question, what is it? What is
this altar that we have? Now, do Christians or do the
Christian churches have a literal or a material offer altar rather,
like they had under the old economy. Do we find any Christian material
altars in the scripture? Think about it for a moment very
quickly. Do you ever read where the Christian,
the gospel churches, ever had a material altar in the scripture? In the earlier churches, were
there any? In the teaching of Scripture,
is there any teaching that we ought to have a material stone,
brick, gold, or silver altar? Yet as some have fashioned themselves,
calling it Christian, what they call altar. One of the very worst
being the Roman altar and the mass where they claim that the
bread and the wine literally actually are changed into the
blood and the body of our Lord. Some people call these steps
right here an altar in their church. Others might call this
table here an altar where we put the Lord's Supper that sits
upon it. Some have even called the cross
an altar in a sin, where the Lord gave himself as a sacrifice
for sin. And some have built material
altars in their homes, thinking it to be spiritual for their
private use. In 2 Kings, Chapter 21, Manasseh
made altars of all kind, enough to go around. In Acts 17, 23,
the Apostle Paul said that he spotted an altar in Athens with
this inscription to the unknown God. Now I want to make an application. All of this shows carnal people's
fondness for what is external and tangible and touchable, material
and visible. They love things like that in
their religion. Rather than what is spiritual
and internal, they have the external tangible material one. They love
what they can see, what they can touch, what they can feel
with their hand. They don't like that which is
strictly inward and spiritual and of the inside. Now the Christian
church has no material altar made of any material, whether
of wood or stone of gold or silver. In fact, I go further, the Christian
church has neither holy days nor holy places. Her worship
is not in external objects and acts but in spirit and in truth. Her sacrifices are spiritual,
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ offered upon that altar
of sacrifice. Now if our altar is neither material
or perishable, what then is this altar that we have? And more
than that, where is it? What do we have to sacrifice
upon our altar? Certainly not the blood of beasts
or bullocks or lambs or goats. And certainly not the first fruits
of our field or of our garden. Well, Jesus is our altar. But before we consider that,
let's look again at the last half of verse 10, whereof, that
is, of the altar, they who serve the tabernacle, that would be
the high priest, the Levitical priest, and any common citizen,
have no right to eat. Now, I submit this regards the
kind and the nature of the sacrifice. And then notice the conjunction
for. if you would, in verse 11. They have no right to eat four. And then look what he said. The
bodies of those beasts are burned without the camp. Notice again
in verse 11, the particular sacrifice is in view. The blood of the
beasts was carried into the sanctuary by the high priest only and sprinkled
there upon the mercy seat. But their bodies, their hide,
their hooves, their flesh, their dung, their head, their legs,
their inward, the entire carcass. were burned outside of the camp. They were taken outside of the
camp and burned. You want scripture? Leviticus
chapter 4, 11 and 21. Leviticus chapter 16, verse 27. Leviticus 6 and verse 30. Now these concerned the sin offering
and you see that in Hebrews 13 And verse 11, for sin, blood
in the sanctuary, bodies carried without the camp, and they're
burned up completely. Now the point, of some sacrifices,
the priest and the offers could eat. But of certain sacrifices
for sin, no one, not even the high priest, could eat. For it
was a sin offering, and these were not to be eaten in that
way. Entirely devoted to God, entirely
consumed to show the curse of sin must be removed. And it completely engulfed the
sacrifice and consumed it. Now here's another point. When
the sacrifices at the tabernacle were made in the wilderness,
the carcasses were burned outside of the camp. When from the temple
in Jerusalem, they were burned outside of the city. those in the tabernacle, outside
in the country, those outside of the city. Or in verse 12 of
Hebrews 13, without the gate. Those sacrifices were burned
without the gate. Verse 13, without the camp. And look at verse 12 again. Wherefore, Jesus also, that he
might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without
the gate. Now the apostle is making a connection
relevant to the Jew at that time, showing the true nature of the
death of Christ, that he died, that he gave himself as a sin
sacrifice. We recall the nature of the sin
sacrifice. Number one, none could eat any
of the sin offering, and number two, the blood went into the
sanctuary, but the body burned without the camp. Jesus, he said,
to sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the
gate. He was taken, not to the temple,
taken through the gate, outside of the city, there to Golgotha,
answering the time that as the bodies of the sacrificial beasts
were burned without the camp, wherefore Jesus, that he might
sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the
gate. Now, to suffer is sometimes put
for death. Let's be clear. His death was
not martyrdom. He did not die as a martyr. And He did not die for a political
cause. And He did not die for social
justice. He died as a sin offering. He laid down His life for the
sheep. John chapter 10. gave himself
a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God, Ephesians 5 and verse 2. He offered up himself, Hebrews
7 and 27 and Isaiah 53 and verse 10. And whether it reads And
whether it reads there, when thou shalt make his soul an offering
for sin, or his soul shall be made an offering for sin, or
he would render himself a guilt offering, the Savior gave himself
for sin. Now the Lord made the light to
shine upon you. The Lord made the iniquities
of them all to light upon Him, our blessed Lord. Isaiah 53 and
6. Zechariah 13 and 7. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd
and against my fellow. Smite the shepherd, and the sheep
shall be scattered. He spared not his own son, Romans
8 and verse 32, but delivered him up for us all. We have an
altar, and that Judaism is dead does not mean that we lack an
altar. that Judaism is gone does not
mean that we're without a priest or a sacrifice or an altar. We have all three. We have an
altar. We have a place to offer sacrifices
unto God through the mediation of our great high priest, the
Lord Jesus Christ. What do we offer? Hebrews 13
and 15, we offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,
the fruit of our lips. By Him we have, that is by Jesus,
let us offer the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips,
giving thanks and praise and glory unto God forever and forever. You will notice in reading the
psalm how often God is praised by the psalmist. Think about
that as you read. Paul praises God and note continually
this is the same word. Hebrews 13 and 15, that is in
Hebrews 9 and 6, first translated, always, always, constantly, through
time, again and again, over and over, time and again, offer the
sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips unto God. Now, these
sacrifices of praise, are not restricted to appointed times
and appointed places as under the old system, not on the street
corner in order to be seen and heard of men, but out of a sincere
heart and even in the closet at times. After Christ died as
the great and true sacrifice There was a necessity of the
change of the sacrifices offered by the worshippers of God. No more oxen, no more sheep or
goats or bullocks or caves, but spiritual sacrifices are come
in their place. even the fruit of our lip. And
if some ask, what is the first essence of this type of sacrifice? Then we say, it consists in solemn
praise to God for and through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice
and mediation between God and between men. And in verse 15
again, giving thanks unto His name, which the margin has, confessing
His name. And it consists in praise to
God through Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. Now perhaps we should
note There was some knowledge of these spiritual sacrifices
under the old economy. You see that in Psalm 51, 16,
and 17. 1 Samuel 15 and verse 22. To obey is better than sacrifice. In the Old Testament, there was
physical circumcision, but there was also spiritual or heartfelt
circumcision. Deuteronomy 13 and 6, Jeremiah
4 and 4, and the latter, that of the heart, is the greater
or better circumcision. But any sacrifice is strange
fire. upon the altar unless that person
is a believer in Jesus Christ. And it is offered in faith unto
Him. Even in the old economy, the
spiritual sacrifices were dearer to God than the literal burning
ones upon the altar. Read that. It's again and again.
So any sacrifice is strange fire that's not done out of faith. Now say this in closing. God
would be praised. Let everything that hath breath
praise the Lord. Hear the psalmist again and again
praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Praise him
with timbrels again and again. God is not feeding His ego when
He would have us praise Him constantly and fervently and forever. Why? Because He is the one worthy
of praise. He is deserving of praise, deserving
of the glory that is sent unto Him by His people. He will not
heaven ring forever with praises unto God, oh yes, they praised
Him, they praised Him. It is sinful to praise self or
to praise others. God only is to be praised. How shall we praise Him? With
sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving through Jesus Christ unto God,
Him being our altar. We have an altar, and on that
altar in Him we offer the sacrifice of praise unto God continually. And thank God for that. With
all the other things we have, Corresponding to Judaism, we
have an altar. We have won a place to offer
our sacrifices of praise unto God Most High.