It says here in verse 12, Hebrews
9, 12, "...neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." You know,
I want to talk today about three things Christ obtained, three
things Christ obtained. When God, by the Holy Ghost,
gives us a view of our Lord Jesus Christ, when Christ is revealed
to us, made us to see Him, to know Him, and gives us a view
of the salvation that He accomplished on the behalf of those given
to Him in electing love and grace, we become intensely interested
in Him. We become interested in Him.
of knowing Him and knowing what He did, and an interest in knowing
Him and an interest in what He did. I want to not just know
Him. I want to be a partaker of what
He did. I want to be a partaker of what
He did. I'll tell you the difference. I read an article yesterday by
a man, and everything he said was so, but it had no Christ
in it. It had no person of Christ in it. Strong doctrine, but nothing
about Christ Himself. Talked a lot about righteousness,
but didn't talk about Christ who is righteous. And that's
what I'm interested in. I'm interested in knowing Him.
And that's what I say when the Holy Ghost gives you a view of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Gives you a view of what He did
on the behalf of those God gave Him in electing love and grace.
You become interested in Him. and knowing what he did. And
here in Hebrews, we have three things that our Lord obtained.
And look over, you keep Hebrews 9, look in Hebrews chapter 1
with me a moment. Let me show you the first thing he obtained.
Hebrews 1 and verse 4. It says this, Being made so much better than
the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they. He obtained a more excellent
name than any angel. Gabriel had a name. Michael had
a name. And they were used greatly of
God. But by His inheritance, the angels didn't inherit anything.
What are they going to inherit? Christ never shed His blood for
them. They're not going to receive no eternal promise. They didn't
receive redemption. But because, and it says here,
for unto which of the angels said he any time, Thou art my
son, this day have I begotten thee, and again I will be to
him a father, and he shall be to me a son. No angel was called
the Son of God. No angel was called the begotten
Son of God. So by the very fact that he's
the only begotten Son of God, he obtained a more excellent
inheritance because he has a more excellent name. He's the son,
so he gets the inheritance. He's the one that has the name
of the only begotten Son of God. He's the one who God said, this
is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. He is eternal. Angels aren't. They were created.
Christ is the eternal Son of God. And by Him, beloved, and
look what it says there in verse 2. He's not only the only begotten
of the Father, but He's the Son and He's the heir of all things.
It says, There hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son, whom he hath appointed, what's this, heir of everything. What does that mean? That means
that everything that rise, wriggles, moves, and bees, and has any
being, Christ has inherited to do with it what he wants to.
Ain't that what you do if you're heir? You do what you want to
with what belongs to you? Some of them he brings to himself,
some of them he leaves alone. And then look over here in Hebrews
chapter 8, let me show you something else he obtained. Not only he
obtained by an inheritance a more excellent name, the name above
every name. It's the only name that God will
let you speak to God by. He ain't going to let you speak
to Him except through the name of His blessed Son. You're going
to come in Christ's name or God ain't going to hear you. And
God's going to come to you through His Son or He ain't going to
have no dealing with you. Now that's just, that's right. I
don't care how ecumenical somebody gets and
how say, you know, people say, well, there's just so many different
ways and you got to be tolerant with this. God was intolerant
when he says, this is my beloved son, hear him. No man comes to
the father but by him. And Christ Himself said, except
you believe I am He, you'll die in your sins. He was intolerant
of anybody that had anything to do with anybody but His Son. And we're going to be intolerant
about this business of Christ. God didn't make no bones about
it. We're not going to make no bones.
We're not going to compromise right here. And I'll tell you
what it says over here in chapter 8. In verse 3, listen to me now,
listen to what it says here. It says here that Christ, that
those who are a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle,
which the Lord preached to not man. For every high priest, in
verse 3, excuse me, that's where it should have started. For every
high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices whereof
it is necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
God ordained those priests and every day they got up in the
morning and they offered gifts and sacrifices all day, every
day. When you went to that tabernacle,
when you went on the outside, there were people there with
lambs, there were people there with doves, there was people
there with pharaohs, there was people there with bulls, there
was people there with heifers, and they brought all these sacrifices.
And these fellas was a morning and night offering those sacrifices
and offering those gifts, offering meal offerings and meat offerings
and wine, all day, bloody, bloody, bloody, bloody. And that's what
they would do. So if Christ is going to offer something, and
if he is a high priest, if he's a priest, then it's necessary
that he has something to offer. If he were on earth, he should
not be a priest. Why shouldn't he? See, because
there are priests already on the earth that offer gifts according
to the law. Well, what do they do? They just serve under the
example and shadow of heavenly things. As Moses was admonished
of God when he was about to make the tabernacle, said, Now see
to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown
to thee in the mountain. Now watch it. But now hath he
obtained a more excellent ministry. And how much also he is the mediator
of a better covenant which is established upon better promises."
Now, what does he mean he obtained a more excellent ministry? Let
me give you just several things about it. First of all, they
were many. Ain't that what it says? Many
high priests. Many high priests. He is one. They offered many gifts. He offered
himself. Their priesthood is temporary.
Our Lord Jesus Christ's priesthood is eternal. They offered many
sacrifices. He offered only one. He offered
himself without spot to God. They offered the blood of bulls
and goats. He offered his own blood. They went into a temporary
tabernacle. Christ entered into the eternal
presence of God Almighty. Their sacrifices couldn't put
away sin. His sacrifice put away sin once and for all, for all
His people, for all time, for all eternity. Their work was
never finished. It says there that they continually
made, offered sacrifices and gifts over and over and over
and over, and they just kept, there was no place to sit down
in that tabernacle. They stood offering, I said it
stood offering gifts and sacrifices. But our Lord Jesus Christ, His
work was finished. After He by Himself purged our
sins and sat down, where did He sit down at? At the right
hand of God Himself. Why? Because the work is done.
He said, Father, I finished the work that You gave me to do.
Now give me the glory that I had with You before the world was.
And I tell you, their priesthood made nothing perfect. If they made the comers there
aren't too perfect, why do they keep offering the same sacrifices? And you know, this is what religion
tries to do. It tries to tell folks that you
need to get perfect. And they set folks out to be
better, to be perfect, and do it by the works of their own
hand. And that's why it never works. They're never satisfied.
Their conscience is never satisfied, no matter what you do. You'll
never be satisfied. They preachers keep telling you,
you've got to be holy. You've got to be holy. You've
got to quit your sinning. You've got to live a better life.
You've got to live a good life. You've got to live a perfect
life. Well, I tell you what, what they try to get folks to
get to, that's where we start at. You start out perfect in
Christ. You start out perfect and holy
in Christ. We're not going to be perfect.
We're not going to be holy at the end. That's the starting
place. And I tell you, beloved, I feel
sorry for people who, preachers are constantly harping on them
to live this kind of life and that kind of life and put away
this sin and that sin and the other sin. And I tell you, the
standard always moves. Let me give you some examples. You know, Mennonites and Amish
and What they called them dunkers,
them German Baptists? You know, they all wore the black
hats, you know, and had the beards and the white shirts and black
jackets. Well, for years, you know, they didn't let you have
automobiles. Then they decided they needed automobiles. They
had to buy an automobile that had to be black. Everything had
to be black. No frills at all. And the women
wore old brown or black dresses all the time. Well, after a while,
they decided, you know, that you could have a chrome bomb. Next thing you know, you could
have a radio. Next thing you know, you could
wear a printed dress. Then, after a while, you could
have a computer and a cell phone. See what they just got? They
just keep moving the stick. And whenever you move the stick,
that means the stick was crooked to start with. Whatever was holy
back there would be holy today. Is that not right? So why do
you keep moving the stick? Why do you keep changing? If
it was right to start with, why did you change over to you? And
that's what I'm telling you, to never be satisfied if you
try to do it yourself. But if Christ did it, Christ
finished the work. What else do you need? Crop your feet up, sit back and
rest in Him. And all beloved third priesthoods,
as I said, made nothing perfect. But Christ did. He has perfected
forever. Ain't that what it says? Perfected
forever. Hebrews 10, 14. Look at it yourself. He hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. Tell you something
else about the difference between those priests and Christ. It's
why he obtained a more excellent ministry than that. It's because,
beloved, they were personally sinners. It says that they had
to offer sacrifice first for themselves and then for the sins
of the people. Our Lord Jesus Christ was holy,
harmless, sinless, higher than the heavens. He did not have
to offer sacrifice for himself. His sacrifice was entirely and
completely for someone else. He had no sin of his own. If
he had been a sinner, well, he couldn't have saved anybody else.
But he was sinless, he was perfect, he was holy. So when he offered
his sacrifice, when he offered his blood, and that's why, beloved,
he could enter in once into the holy place and get return of
redemption. He was sinless. They had to offer sacrifice for
their sins. Christ offered sacrifice for somebody else's sins. Now
over here in Hebrews 9.12, and this is where I really wanted
to get to. So they obtained three things. A more excellent name? Because he has all the inheritance. You know, when they call you
in to get the inheritance, you know, if there's a whole bunch
of folks there and they just call out one name. One name. When they read that will, one
name. Everybody thinks they're going to read my name. Oh, boy,
I'm going to get something later. No, no. Just one name. That's what God did to Christ. Gave him everything. Oh, and
look what it says here in Hebrews 9.12. Neither by the blood of
goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once
to the holy place, having, having obtained eternal redemption for
us. And oh beloved, you know when you read about over in Revelations
5 and you go through there and you see Christ as a lamb as it
had been slain. And they're singing a song now,
unto Him that loved us and worked us for our sins, unto Him who
redeemed us to God out of every kindred, tribe, and tongue, and
nations, and people. That's what they're singing about.
They see a lamb as it had been slain. They see somebody who
had obtained, someone who had prevailed to open the book. Well,
here, beloved, He obtained something for us. And to obtain means to
get possession of. It means to take, it means to
receive. It means to accomplish the end
that had been in view. If you've got a goal, you've
got something you want to do, and you work at that till you
get it. Well, our Lord Jesus Christ, when He came into this
world, He had one object in view. He had an object in view, He
had a work in view, He had a purpose in view, He had a will in view,
He had a work in view, and He's not going to stop until that's
obtained. And, oh beloved, if we couldn't
obtain redemption, how could we obtain redemption? Where are
we going to get it? Work all your life. You can't
never redeem yourself. You can't put away one sin. You
can't put away an evil thought out of your own mind. You can't
put away a hard heart. You can't put away a vain imagination. You can't do a thing in the world
to get God to do anything at all for you. We couldn't obtain
redemption. Our redemption didn't come easily. And we couldn't
redeem ourselves. Angels couldn't redeem us. Not one of Adam's fallen race
could do it. Now look with me. You keep Hebrews
9. Look over in Psalm 46 with me just a minute. Psalm 46. We couldn't redeem
ourselves. Angels couldn't do it. Money
or merit couldn't redeem us. A lot of folks you know, they
talk about all the money that they've got. But I tell you, I read somewhere
one time where money can buy you books but can't buy you brains.
Money can buy you a house but can't buy you a home. Money can buy people to follow
you around, but it can't buy anybody to love you. Money can buy you a lot of things,
but it can buy you the best doctors in the world, but it can't buy
you health. And if money can't buy the simplest
things for us, the things that's most important to us, could it
possibly pay for our sins and redeem us to God? Do you know
that the Catholic Church, and I'm sure they probably still
do it, when they want somebody to do something, they'll say,
if you'll do this here, we'll absolve you of 20 sins. We'll
give you indulgence. You can commit a certain amount
of sins, and you give us so much money, and we'll let you indulge
in that many sins for this much money. But how about, what's the difference
in that in Arminianism? It tells you, you know you can
go out here in the world, and you know you've accepted Jesus,
you've been on an altar, you've let Him into your heart, you're
just now, you're not living for Him. But the Lord will take you
back anytime you want to. Is that not indulging somebody
in their flesh and their sin? Ain't no difference in that in
my opinion, my way of thinking. But look here at Psalm 49 and
verse 6, watch what it says. Talking about redeeming ourselves.
Psalm 49 and verse 6. They that trust in their wealth
and boast themselves in the multitude of the riches, none of them can
by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him.
For the redemption of their souls is precious. And beloved, I tell
you what, in one of these days that soul is going to perish
forever. It's going to cease. And, oh, beloved, and that's
why money or merit won't do it. You know why merit won't do it?
God said He recounted and repeated all the inhabitants of the earth.
There's what? Nothing. Nothing. Now, we're here in our
text again. You know, so we see what it means
to obtain. We could attain redemption ourselves. Nobody could redeem us. And to
redeem, or redemption, means to buy. It means to purchase
a slave with a view to his freedom. And I remember last week I preached,
you know, from Matthew 20, 28, that Christ gave his life a ransom
for many. That means he paid the price.
He paid the redemption. And everybody knows what it is
to redeem. You get something, you say, if you'll redeem, this
is what you'll get for it. Well, Christ gave his redemption
price in view, and this was the goal, to obtain redemption for
his people. And boy, what kind of slaves
were we? Were we slaves? Oh, we were slaves. Let me tell you the first thing
that we was bound by, and that we couldn't get ourselves away
from. We was bound by God's law, God's justice, and God's righteousness.
Now, how in the world are you going to save yourselves from
God's law if it's broken? You know, once you break the
law, you can't undo it. Can you? I mean, even the laws
of the land, if you break them, you can't undo them. You can't
bend them. You can't glue it back together. And if you break
the law against God, if you sin against God, if you don't love
God, if you covet, if you commit adultery in your heart, if you
lie, if you steal, if you cheat, if you take something that don't
belong to you, even desire something that don't belong to you, if
you covet something that don't belong to you, by God's own standard,
You're lost. You're under the curse. And God's
justice, when you're under the curse, says the soul that's sinning,
it's God to die. And God being righteous says,
I will not lower my standard at all. I will not let them go.
I mean, I won't let them go. And then I won't be bound by
that, but we is bound by sin. Can any man cleanse his own soul
by taking thought, cleansing himself of sin? Can anybody ever
put away one's sin by himself? Bound by sin. Slaves to sin. Bound by. Bound by. And I tell
you, we're bound by self-will, self-love, self-righteousness,
bound by traditions. Oh, our traditions. Oh, my. But look what it says here. Neither
by the blood of goats and calves, by his own blood, he entered
in once." I like it, just once. They had to go in and out, in
and out. Christ went in once. Then went
into an earthly tabernacle. Christ said he entered into the
holy place. Having obtained eternal redemption
for us. Well, how did he obtain eternal
redemption for us? Well, he did it by covenant.
Did it by covenant. You know, Christ came into this
world based on a covenant. Everybody knows what a covenant
is. And Christ came in a covenant. That's why it's called a testament.
That's why it's called a covenant. He came into this world because
of a covenant. God gave Him a people. And when
He gave it, you know, if you go through John 17, there's seven
times it says about Christ, those that were given to Him. And then
in John 6, all as the Father giveth me. And you find them
all laid down by life for the sheep. There's a particular people
that were given to Him and given to Him in covenant. Now, beloved,
we were not in the covenant. The covenant's between the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost. We knew nothing about this covenant.
We had no clue that this covenant had been made. You may have a
covenant with somebody somewhere, some way, some else, and I don't
know anything about it, and don't need to know anything about it.
And we didn't know that the Father had given us to Christ We didn't
know that Christ would say, I'll go into the world and I'll live
a life they can't live. I'll die a death they can't die.
I'll pay a debt that they cannot pay. And I'll do for them what
they cannot do for themselves. And God the Father said, I'll
accept that. And the Holy Ghost says, I'll
go and I'll do and I'll apply what you did for them to them.
I'll see that they get it. And I'll tell you how else he
obtained eternal redemption for us. He first done it by covenant.
Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. An old man told me the other
day, 95 years old, he got to preach it to me. It was such
a blessing. He says, you know, he says, he
said, you know, God predestinated Christ to come into this world.
I said, you did? He said, yeah. He said, is the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world? He said, do you
know what? He said, He was slain in picture in Genesis 3 when
God slew the animals and closed their nakedness and shed their
blood. He said, all they had was fig
leaves, and that's all anybody's trying to do is cover up their
fig leaves. But He says, tell me what those
people had anything to do with their salvation. He said, God
did it all. I said, Amen. I said, hey, just, you know,
I just blowed my mind that old man sitting there, just went
to preaching to me. And he said, you know, God saw him, said he
knew who he was when he saw him. He said he was that lamb that
God purposed to come into this world. And, oh, beloved, I tell
you how else he became our High Priest, how he became, and attained
eternal redemption, so by becoming our High Priest. Look here in
verse 6 of Hebrews 9, verse 6, Now when these things were thus
ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing
the service of God. But in the second, into the holiest
of holies, went the high priest alone, once every year. But he didn't dare go in there
without blood, which he offered for himself and for the heirs
of the people. Oh, but look down there in verse
11. But Christ Being come a high priest of good things. It's a
good thing. Grace is a good thing. Sins being
put away is a good thing. God being satisfied is a good
thing. Scriptures being fulfilled is
a good thing. And these were good things to
come. By a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands
like that tabernacle was. That is to say, not of this building. Neither by the blood of goats
and calves." Well, they went in there with blood. Didn't He
say, not without blood? He went into the presence of
God with His own blood! Huh? Oh, beloved, let me look
over here in Hebrews 7, 26 with me just a minute. Oh, He became our High Priest.
And I'll tell you, this is the thing, beloved. Do you know why
they had priests? And why we have to have a High
Priest? A high priest represents God to the people and represents
the people to God. And we got to have a priest.
He said in Hebrews 7, 26, for such a high priest became us. who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, higher than the heavens, who made higher
than the heavens, who needeth not daily as those high priests
to offer up sacrifice first for their own sins and then for the
people's. For this he did once when he
offered up himself. Now it says here, for such a
high priest became us. What does that mean, such a high
priest became us? What was necessary for us? What
we needed? Well, what in the world did we
need? Oh my, we needed a priesthood who is perpetual. Those priesthood,
they couldn't continue by reason of death. We need one who has
a perpetual life, that lives forever, always living to make
intercession for us. And ain't that what it says there
in verse 25? See, he ever lives to make intercession
for us. That's why the Pope, you know,
they wait, when the Pope dies, they wait for a certain time
as color smoke comes out the moat stack up there. We're never
going to be looking for a smoke stack with stuff to come up out
of the... what color smoke's coming out
of it. We're not looking for smoke stacks. We're not looking
for somebody to die and come take his place. No! Our high
priest lives forever! That's the right hand of God.
Look what else is said here now. And one who is able to stand
before God for us. He lives able to say to the uttermost
of them that come unto God, help them. One who is separate from sinners,
well he was that. He couldn't be a sinner, he couldn't
be associated with Adam. And we had one who had the ability
to offer sacrifice. Well, he says there in verse
27, who need not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice
for his own sins than for the people. Oh, he had to offer sacrifice. Well, he did. For this he did
once. What he offered up what? Himself. Himself. He offered himself. And oh, beloved, and by this
offering, in fact, I think here in Hebrews 9.12, by this offering, It says there in verse 14, by
this offering, and you know this has happened to you, and you
know if this is so or not. This is one way you can know
if you know Christ. It's one way you can know if
He has redemption for you. How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot
to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? Now! One thing that happens when the
blood of Christ is applied to a man's heart, applied to his
soul, his conscience is purged like that. He has no more guilt. Is that not right? The guilt's
gone. Everything you ever done before
you come to know Christ was useless. Wasteful. You might have been
a preacher. You might have been a deacon.
You might have went to a thousand altars, you might have shed a
million tears. You might have changed the way
you dress, you might have quit a few bad habits, take up some
new habits, but I'll tell you one thing, it never purged your
conscience. But when the blood of Christ
was applied, when the Holy Ghost comes and applies the blood of
Christ, it takes that conscience and wipes it clean. And now, beloved, you come into
the presence of God, you have no guilt, you have no condemnation,
you have no fear. You're not coming there and sneaking
up into the presence of God and saying, Lord, it's me, I messed
up again, will you please forgive me? You know, come crawling,
you know, and said, Oh me, Lord, I've backslid. I need to get
back up. Oh, I've done this, I've done
that. No, no, no. Christ, He obtained the true
redemption for us. He cleansed our conscience. And guess what? He ever lived
to make intercession to make sure it stays clean. Huh? And watch what it says. He entered
once. Just once. If you got the right
sacrifice, that's all it takes. You know, if we was under the
law, and while I breathe back in works religion, we'd always
be bringing something, wouldn't we? If we was under the law,
you know what most of us have done? Whenever we do something wrong,
conscience bothers us real bad, we'd go out and get us a lamb
or get us some doves, and we'd run up there to the tabernacle
and say, priest, I've committed this sin. That's why you know
they get in them booths and start telling the sins they committed.
So you go up to the priest and you say, I've committed this
sin. Here's my offering. Well, what'd that do? If it was
a lamb, they'd say, he's fucked. Catch that blood in the basin.
And then they'd skin him out. And then they'd start cutting
him up. And they'd take that blood in there for the brazen
altar, and they'd start pouring it all over that hero. And then
they'd pour it out on the ground. And then they'd take that lamb
in there, and they'd put it on that brazen altar. And the fire
would start consuming it. And then that person would walk
away. Sin was taken care of. until he's done something again.
I start all over. We don't have to do that. Why? Because he entered in once with
his own blood. Oh, my. And oh, what did he do
when he went into that place, that holy place once? He went
in there to obtain something for us, and what did he obtain
for us? Eternal redemption. I want you to notice there are
three eternal things here before I move on. First of all, there
in verse 9, we have eternal redemption. Secondly, down there in verse
14, it says that He offered Himself through the eternal Spirit. And
down there in verse 15, we have an eternal inheritance. When
you deal with an eternal God, eternal issues, You need eternal
redemption. Everything we have is based on
eternity. It's an eternal thing. And how
in the world, and let me show you something else. He entered
once. What did He obtain for us? Eternal redemption. And I'll
tell you how else He obtained this eternal redemption for us.
By His appearing. By His appearing. Look down here
in verse 26. He appeared. For Christ has not entered into
the holy places made with hands, all they are is just figures
of the true, types of the true, but into heaven itself now to
appear in the presence of God for us, nor yet that he should
offer himself as the high priest once entered into the holy place
every year with the blood of others. For then must he have
suffered since the Foundation of the world, but now here's
his first appearing. But now once, in the end of the world,
hath he appeared. What for? To put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. He obtained the return of the
action force because he appeared. What did he appear for? To put
away sin. How did he do it? By the sacrifice of himself.
Uh-huh. And oh, now watch what happens.
So he appeared the first time. He said, He's faced like a fan.
He told His disciples, Thy is coming when the Son of Man must
go up to Jerusalem and be delivered into the hands of sinful men.
He must be crucified. Must die. Must be. And then, beloved, so He appeared
to put away sin. Look what else He does here in
verse 24. For Christ is not at any end
of the holy places made with hands, which are the figures
of the truth. But watch this, but in the heaven itself, what
does it say next? Now to appear in the presence
of God for us. You read that tonight and say
now. Read it tomorrow and say now.
Where's he at? He's appeared in the presence
of God for us. Would you go into court if you was charged with
a crime without a lawyer? They say, I want you to appear
and I want you to bring these documents with you. Well, God
says, appear in my presence. Christ said, I'll go. I'll stand up there for you.
The Jews are the brethren. The devil goes up there and says,
you know, I've seen that so and so. I've seen Donny Bell do such
and such a thing. Nobody else knows he done it,
but I know he done it. The Lord Jesus appears in the
presence of God and say, you know, I've done put that
sin away. I've paid for that. He's one
of mine. I'm not ashamed to be called
His brother. I'm not ashamed to be called His God. I've done
shed His blood for Him. And my blood has been taken.
Satan has to leave. Oh my, so he appears right now
in the presence of God, of course. And then look what it says in
verse 28. So Christ was once, once offered
to bear the sins of many, not every man, many, and unto them
that looked for him. That's the many he shed his sins
for, people that are looking for him. And many unto them that
look for him, I'm looking for him, ain't you? I'm looking for
him to come get me, I'm looking for him to come get you, he's
going to come get some of you before he ever comes get me. But I'm looking for him. And
unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time, but
he comes again this time to get all of his people, to gather
his sheep on the right and the goats on the left. When He changes
our bowed bodies in a fashion like unto His own, when we're
changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, when He appears a
second time, He's not going to appear as a sinner. He's not
going to appear as a sacrifice. He's going to take all His people
home. Salvation is going to be. We'll receive the end of our
faith, the salvation of our souls. And look what it says here. Now,
who did He obtain this eternal redemption for? Well, what does
it say there in verse 9? Having obtained, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. For us! Are you of us? He obtained, he, the high priest
under the law. Let me tell you something. The
high priest under the law, they only offered sacrifices for Israel. Only for Israel. He didn't offer
them for the Hittites, the Geddites, the Philistines. The Canaanites
or nobody else, they just offered them for Israel. The Passover
lamb was only for Israel. And the beloved Christ, He offered
Himself only for spiritual Israel. God's elect, God's sheep. Let
me show you something. Psalm 111. And I'll be done just
in a minute. Psalm 111. Let me show you something
here. Christ, He said, I lay down my
life for the sheep. Psalm 111. There's that high priest. And
then, you know, folks that just despise election. You know, they
don't mind God electing Israel. They don't mind God electing
a bunch of rebels there. But boy, when you start taking
it down to God having a spiritual Israel, a people that He calls
His own, individual people, They don't like that. But I love
it. I love it. Elections don't close
the door. It's the only door. It opens
the door wide. Had not God chosen some, none
of them, nobody would have been converted. Nobody would have
been saved. You say, preacher, I'd love to be one of them. Well,
why in the world don't you believe? Election don't keep you out.
Election's got the door open. You know what's got the door
closed? I'll tell you what's got the door closed. Your sin.
Your rebellion. Your heart. Your mind. Your wickedness. You need a new heart. You need
a new spirit. You need a new mind. You need
a new will. Your self-righteousness keeps
you from coming to Christ. It's not your badness. It's your
goodness. And I tell you the very fact
that you would stand up and question God says He has the right to
choose one past by another, that shows you that you're hard-hearted.
Who in the world are you to dispute with God? Who in the world's got the right
to stand up and argue with God? Who art thou, old man, that replies
to God? God says, if I want to have mercy
on whom I have mercy, that's my mercy, I'll give it to whom
I will. If I want to have compassion on whom I will, it's my compassion,
I'll give it to whom I want to. Ain't that right? I know one
thing, had not God chosen me, I'd have never ever chosen Him. Had not God brought the gospel
to me, I'd have never went to the gospel. Is that not right? Had not God broken my will, I'd
still be a rebel. And you know, for my children,
one of them turned 42 yesterday, another's going to turn 40 next
Saturday. Got a grandson 21 years old,
granddaughter-in-law 22, grandson 16, Grandson 11, little great-granddaughter
of the B-year-old, the 22nd. The only hope I have for them
is God, in His sovereignty, doing for them what He did for me.
If He can do it for me, He can do it for them. I'm shut up to
the fact that salvation blows through the Lord, and if God
saves them, He'll have to do it. As much as I love them, as much
as I pray for them, as much as I want Oh my, I'd save them from
all their troubles, Gary, if I could. I'd take every heartache
away. I'd take every danger away. I would protect them. I'd preserve
them. I'd keep them from every obstacle I could keep them. I'd
make life just as easy as I possibly could. I'd remove obstacles. I'd remove
heartaches. I'd remove sorrows. I'd remove
fears. I'd remove anything. I'd just
do everything I possibly could. And it'll never be enough. Because no matter what I've done,
I couldn't put away the sin. I couldn't make them acceptable
to God. I can't give them a new heart. But God can. That's why I love the sovereignty
of God. That's why I love the truth of
His righteousness, His power. But look here at Psalm 11, verse
9, talking about Christ, only for spiritual Israel. It says
here, He sent redemption unto who? His people. He hath commanded His covenant
forever. Holy and reverent is His name. Oh, I'll tell you who He obtained
eternal redemption for. Those who have the promise of
eternal inheritance. The call, He said. Those who
have the promise of eternal inheritance. Back over here in Hebrews 9.
And oh, beloved, He gave us, we have the promise of eternal
inheritance. And you know how we know? Now
listen here, I'm going to give you this and I'm going to quit.
It says here, he says, for where a testament is, in verse 16,
there must also be a necessity of the death of the testator.
Now, the testament is, you know, we all have a last will and testament.
How many of you all have wills? Most of you have wills. That's
what a testament is, last will and testament. He said it's long,
he said, for a testament is a force after man's death. And you know,
until you're dead, that will is just in an envelope. Absolutely
dope, it's just a piece of paper with what you want done with
what belongs to you when you die. Well, listen here. Otherwise, if there's no strength
at all, it's while the testator lives. And so when the testator,
the one who has the will, dies, then the will goes into effect.
When Christ died, the will went into effect. What's in the will? Eternal inheritance. Eternal redemption? Eternal life? Glorification? And oh, beloved, I'm telling
you, oh my, because he died, his will went into effect, and
I tell you what, people contest wills all the time. I said, you
know, this young girl married an old, old man out in Texas,
and he was a billionaire. He was way up in his eighties
or something like that, and she married him and said, when he
died, all that money's going to be hers. Well, all them kids
said, now wait a minute. And you know who paid more money
out of that fellas? The lawyers just about got it
all. As those folks fought over it.
But listen to me. There ain't nobody going to keep
Christ from enforcing history. You've got the power to keep
Him from enforcing His will, give it to Him He wants to. So
we're guaranteed because He lives. You know, a fellow can't come
back from the grave and say, now this is what I meant for
my will to be. I mean, I want it enforced just the way I had
it written. Don't want to took the law, don't want to took the
court, I want these people to have it. Well, Christ keeps because
He lives, He says. I'm going to see that you get
everything. with yours. Amen? All right. Our Father, O gracious, gracious
God, how wondrously holy, how gracious You are. How blessed
is Your holy name. And Lord Jesus, our Sovereign,
our Redeemer, the very Lover of our souls, blessed be Your
name as You came. You appeared to put away sin
by the sacrifice of Yourself. You appear now in the presence
of God for us, having obtained eternal redemption for us. And
Lord Jesus, You're going to come again. And since sin's been put
away, You'll come with our glorification, our eternal salvation. And we
bless You for it, in Christ's name. Amen. Amen.