In the psalm we have the prophecy
of what we look at in Hebrews 10. In verse 6 through verse
8, here in Psalm 40, sacrifice an offering thou didst not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened, burnt
offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said
I, Lo, I come. in the volume of the book it
is written of me. I delight to do thy will, O God,
yea, thy law is within my heart." All right, turn to Hebrews 10. Reading verse 1 through 10, this
verse from Psalm will come up. For the law having a shadow of
good things to come, not the very image of the things, can
never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually
make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered, because that the worshippers once purged
should have had no more conscience of sin. But in those sacrifices
there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when
he cometh into the world, he said, Sacrifice an offering thou
wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings,
sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I,
Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me,
to do thy will, O God." Above, when he said, sacrifice, and
offering, and burnt offering, and offering for sin thou wouldst
not, neither had pleasure therein, which are offered by the law. Then said he, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. There is an old saying, we have
our plates full. And indeed we do this morning.
We have our work cut out for us in considering this great
passages of Scripture that we have read from both in the Old
Testament and in the New. We are standing in water, almost
over our head and that upon our tiptoe. But we have to confess
that right up front. It is hard to get a grasp of
these sort of things unless we have a working knowledge of the
Old Testament and the Levitical sacrifice system as kind of a
background under what merged into the New Testament. We need
to kind of understand their use. We need to understand their limitations
also as well. As an example of the confusion
that exists on this subject today, there are some that actually
teach that there are two ways of salvation. One way in the
Old Testament and another way in the New Testament under the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now to the former we reason,
how could any ever be saved by the keeping of the law when none
have ever kept the law in its entirety except our Lord Jesus
Christ. So, let's come at our subject
and the text that we have read for today after or in this fashion,
by emphasizing or by highlighting, first of all, before we wade
out into them, some statements that we lift out of these two
great contexts, Psalm 40 and Hebrews 10. In Psalm 40 and verse
6, sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, burnt offering
and sin offering thou hast not required. Then in Hebrews chapter
10 and verse 5, sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, and
in verse 6, in burnt offering and in sacrifices for sin thou
hast had no pleasure." Now, we have two subjects in these wonderful
words and wonderful phrases. Number one, the things that are
in view, and that is sacrifices and burnt offerings for sin. Those things that were offered
because of sin. sin offering, burnt offering,
they are sometimes called, of which we could say they refer
to the whole Levitical system. When we read that, I think we
can make that all-inclusive. For all sacrifices, or I'll say
most of them, were in regard unto sin, and especially those
that were embodied in the Mosaic system of worship. Those sacrifices,
those burnt offering and such like. Secondly, a thing to notice
here is the attitude of God toward them. Not only the sacrifices
and the burnt offering, the altar sacrifices and such like, but
we have noticed the attitude of God toward them. Notice, you
did not desire, you have not required, such you would not
in them you had no pleasure. Therefore, in working the text,
we shall do so by making three headings by which to look at
these things this morning. And the three headings are as
follows. Number one, an overview of the
Old Testament Levitical system. Now we could take days studying
that system. But we'll just take an overview
of that Old Testament Levitical system, sometimes called the
ceremonial law and sometimes called the Mosaic law, that was
ordained by God It was given by God unto the people of Israel. It was practiced by the Jew slash
Israel for hundreds and hundreds of years. In fact, we could say,
from Moses unto Christ, these things were in effect, they were
in vogue. Secondly, we want to look at
a consideration of Hebrews 10, verses 1-4. their inability to take away
sin and to perfect the worshipers and purge the conscience so that
it stands clear and clean before God. That's our second point.
And number three, we want to then look separately at Hebrews
chapter 10 and verses 5 through 10, how the Son became incarnate
and in the body that God prepared for him, he made one all-sufficient
sacrifice for sin with an everlasting efficacy, able to save unto the
uttermost, sanctifying forever, never requiring or needing repeating
at all. One great sacrifice for sin,
and that forever. and effectual forever. So, let's look at them in the
order that we just mentioned them or named them. First of
all, let's take a short overview of the Levitical system Let's
look at a little synopsis or a shortened account of its nature
and those that worshiped under this system or this economy. I say shortened or abbreviated
because this is capable of repeated study one after another. and none, yea, whole books have
been written upon this subject, and multitude of sermons and
studies have been made and have been preached. But before we
consider the Levitical sacrificial system, let us acknowledge a
couple of things that might open our mind a little more as we
go on our way. A. Before the Levitical system
of sacrifices was instituted by God through Moses to the people,
sacrifices were already in common use. They did not begin first. They did not commence first at
Sinai or with the Mosaic system. And not just among the heathen
were their sacrifices, but among the worshipers and the people
of God. I guess one of the first examples
is that of Abel in Genesis chapter 4 and verse 4. Of him it is said,
he brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof."
And in Hebrews 11 and verse 4, "...by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous, God testifying of his gift." We see another
one in Genesis 8 and verse 20, this time Noah offering burnt
offerings upon the altar. After the floodwaters had receded,
Noah and his family had come out of the ark upon the new earth,
cleansed of the ungodly that had been there. So Abraham, we
find in Genesis chapter 22 and verse 13, though he offered not
up Isaac, yet he offered up Aram. Think about Job 1 and verse 5. Job offering burnt offering in
behalf of his son, if perhaps they had carelessly sinned or
cursed God in their heart. Now, let's raise a question.
And this question is an important one because Whence arises this
notion or this inclination to build altars and to make sacrifices
upon them? How did this originate? How about the very first ones
or the very first few? Since we do not read of any express
Scripture command for them to do so from God. especially in
the first two cases of Abel and of Noah. Where is it written
to them, you shall offer certain sacrifices unto me? How then did sacrificing take
its rise? How did it come into being? How
did those who knew, who loved, and who worshipped God come to
be sacrificers unto Him? Now we know that it was a part
and a partial, yea the major part of the Levitical system
of the worship and that by the command of God. It was God who
lay out the sacrifices, their types and sorts and such like.
He required them. But how did men like Abel and
Noah come to sacrifice unto God before Him? And now another part
of the question, how did each offer the same sacrifices that
were appointed and approved and required under the Levitical
system? Notice Abel brought of the firstling
of his flock, and of the fat thereof." Genesis 4, 4. And Noah, watch this, in Genesis
8 and verse 20, took of every clean beast and of every clean
fowl and offered burnt offering upon the altar. Surely Calvin
then has a valid point. It is certain that neither Abel
or Noah invented such distinctions on their own or out of their
own mind. And not only do they agree with
each other, but they agree with the Levitical system of worship
as well. And don't miss this point about
it, the distinction between clean and unclean was already observed
also before the Levitical law. It too was included in the ceremonial
law. The distinction is made in Genesis
7 and 8 of clean beasts and of beasts not clean that went into
the ark two by two, male and female. And note it, seven pairs
of the clean and one pair of the unclean, the male and his
female. Get that again. Seven pairs of
the clean went in and one pair of the unclean. And two wonderful
mysteries confront us very early, soon on in the Scripture. Number one, that we see men offering
sacrifices unto God upon altar. Number two, that in those sacrifices
they made the distinction between the clean and the unclean animal
and that early on. And then let's ponder this aspect
of it. without a record of a written
precept or a specific command from God to do so. Some say that
Adam taught his sons the practice of sacrificing and that it was
carried on from there. Yet we find no clear precept
unto him to do so, and Adam is not the most trustworthy individual,
of course, after the fall. Now, we do read that Abel offered
his sacrifice by faith. And let's latch on to that. Abel
offered a sacrifice to God and he did by faith. We read that
Noah's sacrifice was a sweet odor and savor unto God. Calvin and Neil attribute this
to a divine revelation. of some extent or some sort. Calvin ascribed Noah's offering
to, quote, an impulse, unquote, and of course that impulse would
be from God. And then came the sacrificial
system of worship which was established with Israel, had Moses as the
lawgiver and as the mediator, and had Aaron as its high priest
officiating. And the system installed of various
sacrifices was what John Henry Kurtz called, he wrote a book
on the Old Testament sacrificial system, he called it, quote,
an essential ingredient of the Old Testament worship and they
also formed a part of that service which Israel was required to
render unto its God." There were sacrifices for sin. There was
a yearly atonement. There was a yearly Passover that
was to be observed by the people and so on. Some sacrifices daily. and some were yearly, to make
an atonement, it is said, for the sins of the people. And though
animals were used as both food and sacrifices, yet not all animals
for either of them. Some were clean and some were
unclean. And the clean animals were used
to eat and to maintain the natural life for the Israelites, as well
as being used upon their altar to make an atonement for their
soul or for their sin. And the distinction between clean
and unclean may have served a dual purpose from God toward Israel. Number one, God would teach the
people to distinguish between the holy and the profane as it
is defined by God. You see, that in Ezekiel chapter
22 and verse 26, verse 44 and verse 23, where the priest made
no difference between the clean and the unclean. Secondly, in
the clean and the unclean there was a reflection of the difference
that God had put between the Jew and the Gentile. Now in proof
of that, remember the sheet in the vision of the Apostle Peter
in the tenth chapter of the book of Acts? When that sheet was
let down, it is said that it was filled with all manner of
beasts that the Apostle knew to be unclean according to the
ceremonial law. And Peter's vision signaled the
end of that distinction between the Jew and the Gentile. But then there's that great passage
in Leviticus chapter 17 and verse 10 through verse 14. Forbidding
there the eating or the consumption of any blood for food or with
food, and that upon two accounts. Number one, God said, the blood
is the life of the flesh. The life of the flesh is in the
blood, or is the blood, Genesis 9, verse 4, Acts 15, and verse
20. Secondly, the blood was given
by God upon the altar to make an atonement for their sin, saying
there in Leviticus 17, it is the blood that makes an atonement
for the soul. Now, these things taught them
that sin separated them from the fellowship with God, and
that only blood could make a suitable atonement for sin. Their sin
required the shedding of blood. And the high priest went in with
the proper blood in the appointed place at the set or the appointed
time in order that he might make an atonement for the people or
for the nation. And for centuries they lived
and they worshiped under this system. Animal sacrifices, priests,
the temple, days, feasts, months, years, the Sabbath, and so forth. But now, let's come to Hebrews
chapter 10 and verses 1 through 4. And the apostle writes, that
the whole system was but a shadow of better things to come, and
that it could not perfect the worshipper, for its sacrifices
could not literally take away sin. Now, this would be one of
the hardest things for a first century Jew to ever hear come
into his ear. and a very hard, hard lesson
for them to learn. Only a few, only a remnant could
look to the end of that which was abolished. And many of those
Jews who held out the hope of a Messiah never dreamed that
the other things would come to an end, never dreamed that their
temple would be destroyed raised and ruined forever. Never dreamed
that their priest would be killed and their holy city ravaged and
made unlivable. Never dreamed that their beloved
institution would be brought to absolutely nothing. and their
circumcision in which they so boasted and trusted would be
counted as nothing. But in Hebrews 10, the subject
of these four verses is well summed up by A. W. Pink in his
commentary on Hebrews, and I am quoting, the Apostle presses
upon the Hebrews the insufficiency of the Levitical sacrifices to
bring those spiritual and eternal effects that were needed for
poor sinners to be fitted to stand before God as accepted
worshipers Now, this he expresses in verse 4, the impossibility
of such sacrifices taking away sin. But let's notice the first
point, that the law neither contained or attained unto the good things
that were to come. The law having a shadow, verse
1. And hear the contrast. Having
a shadow, not the very image of the thing. Back in Hebrews
9 and verse 9. Speaking of the tabernacle, it
is written, which was a figure for the time then present. Now this word figure in Hebrews
9 and verse 9 is not the same word shadow in Hebrews 10 and
verse 1. In fact, some render it parable,
which was a parable for the time then present. Others, you'll
see it as a symbol or maybe even a similitude. Again, going back
to Hebrews, 8 and verse 5, the Levitical priests of them, it
is said, who serve under the example and shadow of heavenly
things, the Old Testament priests. Some render it copy or shadow. The point being, the law contained
a faint outline, but not the substance and not the very image
of the things that were to come. And the words here, shadow and
image, are words that might be connected to the painting by
an artist. would be the first faint outline
of the picture, the image, the completed painting, when all
is filled in, all the colors and all of the details are added. John Brown put it this way, quote,
the Mosaic Institute contained in it a rude sketch. but by no
means a complete picture of the blessings to be enjoyed under
the Messiah." Then we read way back in Hebrews 7 and verse 19
that the law made nothing perfect. The law made nothing perfect
but the bringing in of a better hope did." Now, the second point
in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 1 is, because the law was a shadow
of things to come and not the very image, it could not perfect
the worshipers, or the comers, or the approachers. It couldn't
affect the comers unto God. See it very clearly in our verse. The law can never, with those
sacrifices which they offered year by year continually, make
the comers unto God perfect. Now, I want us to have a little
word study, a very short one. on the Word continually. Look
at the Word continually. Cannot make the worshipers offered
year by year continually make them perfect. Now, first of all,
we want to raise the question, does the Word continually in
this verse Does it belong to year by year? Could not year
by year continually or yearly? Or secondly, does it belong to
making the comers perfect? Could not continually make the
comers perfect? And which best suits the apostles'
teaching and the apostles' meaning in this place? This was a little
new to me. Reading John Owen, John Brown,
A.W. Pink, they favor the second word,
that the word continually, meaning permanently, perpetually, for
all time, carried through to its completion This word is three
times more in the Hebrew epistle. In Hebrews 7 and 3, Christ abides
one continually, Melchizedek being the pattern. In Hebrews
10 and 12, Forever. One sacrifice for sin forever. Right here in our chapter. Again,
in Hebrews 10, this time verse 14, He has perfected forever
them that are sanctified. Year by year. The apostle focuses
upon the yearly atonement. It came every year at a set time. And the high priest performed
another atonement. He had done so last year, but
he does so again this year, offering the same sacrifices, Hebrews
10 and verse 11. reaching no further, however,
than the purifying of the flesh." Hebrews 9 and verse 13. Or, cleansing away ceremonial
defilement. Cleansing away. Ceremonial offering,
cleansing away ceremonial defilement. For as Owen wrote, the effect
on the consciences of the worshipers was temporary. They could reach
no further than the purifying of the flesh, and their consciences
were charged afresh with sin and the repeating of the same
sacrifices." Now, here the very, very logical argument that their
repetition is proof that they did not perfect the worshipers,
that they were done again And again, and again. in the same
generation, meant that they could not perfect the worshiper. For
if they did perfect the worshiper, cleanse them, justify and purge
their conscience, then there's no reason for them to be repeated
and they would have ceased. So the conclusion of the matter
in verse 4, it is not possible for the blood of beasts to take
away sin. This was their biggest shortcoming,
if we may say it. The main thing needful they could
not do. However, this was also by God's
design. They were never intended to expiate
sin in the way that the blood of Christ would, but they were
meant to be a type of the great sacrifice that would be made
when Messiah came into the world. If I may cite Owen again, They
could represent what in effect they in themselves could not
affect, unquote. This would almost certainly raise
both a question and an objection. And the question would be something
like this. If they could not take away sin,
why then were they required? If they could not take away sin,
why were they instituted and kept in force for so long? By the way, as a comparison,
look at Galatians 3. Verse 19, the same question concerning
the law. If it cannot justify, and if
it only curses, why then was it given? And the answer is,
these things were given to be types and shadow. Now the objection
might be, from a Jew or one school in the Old Testament, like Leviticus
chapter 4 and verse 20, "...and the priest shall make an atonement
for them, and it shall be forgiven them." This regards the sin,
not of an individual, but of the whole congregation and called
the sin of ignorance. if the congregation sin through
ignorance. Leviticus 4.13-21, you need to
also read. And as Matthew Henry noted, it was the turning away of those natural judgments which
their sins deserve. You can read the whole fourth
chapter of Leviticus and see that that is the case. Animal
blood cannot take away sin. It is not possible, not possible
at all that it should do so. And that's the conclusion of
the apostle regarding the Old Testament sacrifices, why a better
one has come in its place. Now, let's come to our third
point. or third consideration, and that
is verse 5 through verse 10 of Hebrews chapter 10. And we'll
even go a little bit further. The apostle now confirms his
doctrine from the Old Testament passage found in Psalm 40. That is, that Messiah was witnessed
in the law and in the prophet, and in Hebrews he does so to
prove that what the law could not do owing to the weakness
of the flesh, God did in the sending of His Son. We read that
in Romans 8 and 3, that while the law made nothing perfect,
it took the bringing in of a better hope to do so, Hebrews 7 and
19. John Brown wrote in his good
commentary on Hebrews that the insufficiency of the Old Testament
sacrifices is declared even in the Old Testament Scripture. By the way, the apostle in Hebrews
is constantly referring to the Old Testament Scripture. He quotes
them again and again. This is intended to carry great
weight with the Jew who read this epistle, for they professed
these scriptures to be infallible in error and without error. We do notice the inspired author
of Hebrews, count Psalm chapter 40 to be Messianic. And he finds there a conversation,
an agreement between the Father and the Son concerning the incarnation
of the Son when He comes into the world. See Hebrews 1 and
verse 6. And in connection with that,
the author reminds them that Messiah is quoted as saying unto
the Father in verse 5 in the last part, sacrifice an offering
you would not, and in verse 6, In burnt offerings for sin thou
hast had no pleasure. And that being so, the Son says,
A body thou hast prepared me. Not the body, the church. not a body of people, but a fleshly
body prepared for the Lord, which the Son assumed, becoming incarnate,
the Word made flesh and dwelt among us in human nature. God manifests in the flesh, as
Paul says to Timothy, in which he offered then himself to God
without spot or blemish. Now the offerings, these Old
Testament animal offerings, Even if, and I say even if, even if
they should be offered by Christ when He came, would not take
away sin. Centuries of them, countless
numbers by the thousand, had never expiated a single sin or
perfected a single worshiper. So God prepared a body for the
Son who vowed I come to do thy will, O God." Since Levitical
sacrifices could not put away sin, God had not pleasure in
them. The Son became incarnate. He did the will of God in giving
Himself as a perfect offering for sin. Himself. He gave Himself
without spot unto God. Remember that word, a body thou
hast prepared for me, here in chapter 10 and verse 10 of our
text. By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Then fall down to verse 14 in
here. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. But let's not miss the truth
in verse 9 that is expressed in various ways in the epistle. That is, that in saying burnt
offerings and sin offering, you would not, and in saying I come
to do thy will, O God. I come to give what it will take. I come to do what it will take
to take away sin. This amounts to bringing the
Levitical sacrifices unto an end. This is their end. The first
sacrifice is that he established the second. He did away with
the first to establish the second. And the one death of Christ has
done what all the blood of beasts and animals could not do. and that is, laid a proper ground
for the extension of mercy, the forgiveness of sin, and the justifying
of sinners. And when Christ died, the legal
sacrifices were at an end. He made one sacrifice, only one,
never, never again. And that one sacrifice for sin,
as verse 14 said, by one offering has perfected forever them that
are sanctified. And what did he do? This man,
when he had offered one sacrifice for sin, sat down on the right
hand of God from henceforth expecting that his enemy should be made
his footstool. In other words, sin is put away,
the work is complete, it is finished, as Christ cried out from the
cross, ere he dismissed his spirit into the hands of God and died
the death of the cross. What those sacrifices could not
do, what those sacrifices never could do, the Lord has done. I come to do Thy will, O God. I'll just make the point that
we made last week. I gave it to us from Owen. That
here in saying God had no pleasure in those sacrifices, He's not
speaking of it on the account of the misbehavior of the people. But as Owen said, of the sacrifices
themselves. He prefers that of the Son, must
have that of the Son. It is the ordained great sacrifice
or the putting away of sin. And He has come. The Old Testament
said, mine ears hast thou digged, I think is the Hebrew. And it's
the practice of piercing the ear of a slave who refused his
freedom and would stay with his master. But in Hebrews it is,
a body thou hast prepared me. A body incarnate the Son, death
upon the cross, sin put away, the old system at an end, abolished
and done away. The old sacrifice is no more. We have one great sacrifice for
sin that is able to save forever and forever.