Chapter 9 in Hebrews. Then verily
the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly
sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made,
the first wherein was the candlestick, the table, the showbread, which
is called the sanctuary, and after the second veil, the tabernacle.
which is called the holiest of all, which had the golden censer,
the ark of the covenant, overlaid round about with gold, wherein
was the golden pot that had manna, Aaron's rod that budded in the
tables of the covenant, and over it the cherubims of glory, shadowing
the mercy seat of which we cannot now speak particularly." Now,
we kind of looked at those verses last week, Speaking about the
fact that the tabernacle that the Lord gave to the children
of Israel said there was a tabernacle made the first wherein was the
candlestick, the table, and the showbread. That's called the
sanctuary. As you went inside the tabernacle proper, the main
outside walls, that was the sanctuary where these things were. that
he's speaking of here, the candlestick, the table, the showbread. But
then there was also another tabernacle inside the tabernacle, another
tent that was inside of that, and this was called the holiest
of all, which was after the second veil, the tabernacle which is
called the holiest of all. And inside that was where the
golden censer, the Ark of the Covenant, the golden pot, the
manna, and Aaron's rod that budded the tables of the covenant. And
over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy seat of which
we cannot now speak particularly." Now he's not saying that the
He can speak of all these other things, but He's not going to
speak of the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat. That's
not specifically speaking about that, but it's speaking about
all of those things. He said we're not going to take
a lot of time to go into what these are. We're not going to
speak about them particularly. Now, not that there's anything
wrong with speaking about those particularly, because just like
as we looked there a moment ago, There is nothing that is superfluous
in the Scripture. Everything has a reason for being
there. Everything has a meaning. But
it is not necessarily necessary at all times to go into detail
about every one of those things. We can, of course, get bogged
down with that. And, of course, what he's doing
here in the book of Hebrews is not trying to re-educate the
Hebrews on what all these things mean, but he's merely pointing
out one thing. And that is that Christ is the
fulfillment of all these things, and that is the sum of what it
is that He has said. You remember as we read over
here in chapter 8, now the things which we have spoken, this is
the sum. We have a high priest who is
at the right hand of the throne of majesty in heaven. That is
the purpose of the book of Hebrews. That is summing up what it is
that He is showing here. So he says, Now when these things
were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle,
accomplishing the service of God. That is, into the outer
tabernacle, the sanctuary. They went in there on a daily
basis, and they offered offerings of praise and thanks unto God.
But into the second, that is, into the holy place, the holy
of holies, that place that was reserved on the inside, he said,
into this place, he said, went the high priest alone once every
year. They didn't go in there all the
time. They went in there once a year. And the high priest by
himself went into that place and he says, not without blood.
He didn't go in there without a blood offering. not simply
for the sins of the people, not without blood, which He offered
for Himself, and for theirs of the people. He was a sinful man. And He knew that if He went into
the holy place without blood, He would be slain. And He went
there not simply to offer blood as a sacrifice for the sins of
the people, but for His own. Now that's important that we
understand this signification. The Holy Ghost thus signifying
that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest
while as the first tabernacle was yet standing. Now what he
is talking about is that all of these things were given as
types and shadows. They were not anything that was
given by God as a means of atonement. They were simply those things
that were types and shadows of that which would make atonement.
Because he says here, which was a figure for the time, then present,
in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not
make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the
conscience. Now we talked a little bit about
that. The man that did the service And as those that viewed this,
they couldn't have a conscious board of offense because they
knew that as soon as that was done, they had to start planning
on doing it again. So there was never any end to
it. It was just always the same thing. And so it could not make
him that did the service perfect. That is, the priest could never
be made clean from his sin. And if he could never be made
clean from his sin, how could he offer a sacrifice that would
make the people clean? I mean, he couldn't even be clean
himself, so they certainly couldn't be clean. And he says, these
things stood only in meats and drinks and divers' washings and
carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation. These things were plainly set
forth that these things were meant for a certain period of
time, a season, and they were only given until that which was
perfect was come, the time of the Reformation or that when
the restitution of all things would be made. But Christ, now
here he is going to explain the difference. But Christ being
come and a high priest of good things to come, He was not a
high priest of the things that had gone by. He was not a high
priest of the sin that would have to be offered for again
and again, but He was come a high priest of good things to come
That is, He was the One of whom all these things were built for.
Now, when Moses was given the Law, he was given the Law for
the purpose of showing men what they are by nature. And when
Christ came, He came to show men what they are through the
work that He performed. And so he is that one who is
being come, a high priest of good things to come, by a greater
and more perfect tabernacle. That is, the tabernacle into
which the Lord Jesus Christ came, it was not types and foreshadows.
It was not things that couldn't bring any benefit to
the people of God, but it was that which was designed for that
so that we could say this, that all of the things that went before
were really useless. Now, they weren't useless because
the Lord would show to the people of God in every age what it was
that He was going to do. But in the sense of the actuality
of accomplishing anything, they were useless. And he said these
were just types and foreshadows. They were just what they were,
but they're not lasting in any way. But Christ, being coming
high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building.
That tabernacle in which the Lord Jesus Christ has made His
offering was not one constructed by men. It wasn't that which
men came up with. They didn't have any input into
the design. Now, we don't read anywhere in
the Scripture that Men had input into the design of the first
tabernacle. The Lord said, Do it like this.
But it was the hands of men that made it. It was made according
to the design of the Lord that He might point to Christ. But
He did utilize the skills of men in making it, just like He
did with Noah in making the ark. He didn't just cause the ark
to appear. He could have. I mean, he could
have just said, well, there's the ark and it could have been
finished and Noah could have walked right in it, but he didn't
choose to do that. So he did use the efforts of
men. Now, men make a big mistake when
they begin to speak of that because, you see, those things were imperfect.
As perfect as the tabernacle was, it was imperfect. As perfect
as the ark was, it was imperfect. As perfect as the law was, it
was imperfect. And what was the imperfection
of all these things? The flesh. Everything that has
to do with the flesh is imperfect. It just simply has never been
designed. A lot of people say, they think
that Adam, when he fell, in the garden, and I don't necessarily
always like to use that term, but I know a lot of people use
it, and it is descriptive. When Adam fell, he didn't fall
from a state of spirituality into a state of carnality. He
was never a spiritual being. He was a carnal being. The Lord
made him as a carnal being. What he fell, he fell in from
the innocence of not having committed sin, and he committed sin. And
that was the thing where he fell. But Adam could never have entered
into eternal glory because he was a carnal man. He was flesh
and blood. The Lord said flesh and blood
shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. And so it is. That's the same principle that
we see here, that Christ is the high priest of good things to
come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle. not made with hands. That is to say, not of this building.
It didn't have anything to do with anything men could do. And so the salvation of God's
people does not have anything to do with what they do, but
it has to do with what Christ has done. Now, He is the Savior
of sinners, and He saves such as call upon Him. And men do
call upon Him, and He hears them, And He does deliver them. But you see, that's the work
of God. It's not the work of men. Because God's the one that
stirs men to call upon Him. And no man will call upon the
name of the Lord apart from the grace of God. Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. He didn't earn grace, because
if you earned grace, there wouldn't be grace with you. But you see,
grace is that which the Lord bestowed, and it is grace that
is evidenced in every word that the writer of Hebrews is saying
here when he speaks about what it is that Christ came to do
as a high priest of good things to come by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of
this building. was given to the Jews, was given
to them for a future tense. In other words, the Scripture
even says that these prophets knew that these things were not
meant for them, but they were meant for those that would come. All of these things were pointing
to something. And what was it that it was pointing
to is set before us right here. This is the psalm, what Jesus
Christ has done. Now when that which is perfect
is come, that which is in part is done away. And so we see that
principle fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ as the Savior
of sinners. And so He has entered into that
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
of this building, not of any type of building that man could
come up with, neither by the blood of goats and calves. Now,
did God have regard unto the sacrifices that the Jews made? Well, He had regard unto them
in this sense that He told them to do it, and He had regard unto
them because He appointed these sacrifices to be made for the
purpose of pointing to the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. But he
had no regard unto these offerings as to the taking away of sin. No man's sin was ever expiated
by the millions of gallons of blood that were poured out on
the altar of the tabernacle. It never was. And so the Lord Jesus Christ,
in order to show the perfection that God has set forth, neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered
in there. Now remember, the high priest,
what did he take when he went into the holiest place? He didn't
go in there without blood. But he went in there with the
blood of another, did he not? Because if he had went in there
with his own blood, he would have died. He could not offer
his own blood. but the Lord Jesus Christ. He
went into that holy place, not the holy place like the high
priests of the Jews did, but into that tabernacle not made
with hands. He went in there not with the
blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood. He entered
in once into that holy place. Now listen to what it says here. obtained eternal redemption for
us. He went in there and he obtained
eternal redemption for us. But the Scripture says, having
obtained eternal redemption for us. He went in there not in order,
per se, to gain our redemption, but to demonstrate our redemption.
Because He already was the Redeemer when He came. The Scripture says
He is the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world.
And He came in there as the Redeemer, having the redemption of His
people. But He has manifested that redemption
by the pouring out of His own blood. Now listen to what it
says. For if the blood of bulls and
goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctify
to the purifying of the flesh, that is, if men could see the
pouring out of these goats and animals' blood, as an expiation
of sin, if they could see that, if that was beneficial to the
sanctifying or the purifying of the flesh, that is, there
was a fleshly religious aspect to it and men went through these
rituals, and they could have some benefit of that, just like
religion is a very beneficial thing to men in the flesh. I mean, the woods are full of
churches, are they not? And they're beneficial to people.
People get a benefit out of it, going to church every Sunday.
But you see, sadly, a great number of people, they're just going
through these things because that is the benefit they get
out of it. They didn't go there to worship Christ. They went
there for the benefit they would get out of it. And it sanctifies
the purifying flesh. It does some good for them. You
know, a man goes through the week and he feels like, well,
he's returned something to God. He did something for God. He
went to church. A lot of people, that's how they
look at it. Well, we went to church. Well, we got off the
hook this week. Now we'll have to go back next
week. And that's just kind of how they view it. But you see,
that is the purifying of the flesh, but it's of no value,
really, ultimately. It's all right. I mean, you know,
would I rather people be in church or be out robbing banks? Well, I'd rather they be in church.
I mean, I'm certainly not opposed to folks gathering up and hearing
somebody preach and all of these things. But brethren, apart from
the work of the Spirit of God in the soul of a man, all of
these things are simply the purifying of the flesh. And that's what
he says about all of these sacrifices. But he said, if the blood of
bulls and goats and ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean
sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, how much more, what
a greater manifestation is this, how much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God, Purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God. Now, did the Lord Jesus Christ
come and die for His benefit? I mean, was God sitting in heaven
thinking, what am I going to do to deliver my people out from
under the bondage of sin? Was it ever a question in his
mind? Was there ever any lack of purpose
in anything that he set forth to do? The answer to that question
is absolutely not. But the pouring out of the blood
of Christ is done for the benefit of men because we are the ones
who stood condemned by the law which said the soul that sinneth
shall die. Now, who made the law? God made
the law. If He made the law, I mean, could
He have not made the law? Well, of course He could have.
Now, did He love His people before He made the law? That's what
the Scripture says. He said before the foundation
of the world. I mean, the law was given to Moses. even the
natural law that was given to Adam. This was secondary to the
love and the selection, the election, the choice, those whom He loved
in Christ from before the foundation of the world. This was antecedent
to that. He loved them before all of that.
And so the Lord has never been at odds with His people. He's
always loved His people. But in order to demonstrate the
glory of His grace, it pleased Him to create man in His image
and put him in the garden and to demonstrate that grace in
the redemption that He would bring forth in Christ. Now all
of those things were done for the benefit of men. The creation of Adam was a glorious
thing. I'm glad that He did, aren't
you? I mean, He made us. We didn't make ourselves. He
made us just like we are. But He has loved His people from
before the foundation of the world. And the Lord Jesus Christ,
when He offered Himself without spot to God, He did not do that for God's
sake. He did that for our sake. Now,
the high priest, he went into a holy place and his activity
could not be seen. They did not know if he was doing
anything or not. The only thing they knew is that
he went in there with the sacrifice of blood and that they could
hear the bells ringing in the and the hem of His garment as
He went about sprinkling blood on the mercy seat. But they didn't see anything
He did. But you see, when that which is perfect has come, the
Lord Jesus Christ came and He put Himself on an open display
before men and angels, before the whole creation, and he hung
upon Calvary's cross and the blood of the sacrifice poured
down his very head, down his side and from his feet and from
his hands and he bled himself to death on Calvary's cross. Why did he do that? That we might see that the high
priest had paid the price, dear brethren. If the work of these earthly
priests, if it did some good to some measure to a man in the
sanctifying of the purifying of the flesh in some religious
way, how much more shall the blood of Christ which is offered
openly and in the sight of all men, how much more shall that
purge the conscience of the people of God? that they might say,
He is our Savior. He is that One that died. He
is that One that paid the price so that we don't wonder, well,
what are we going to do? How are we going to earn our
way into heaven? You're not. But you see, the
conscience of the believer is purged from dead works to serve
the living God because he sees Him hanging on the cross. And
He knows that He made that redemptive work in His behalf. How does
a man know that? How can a man ever come to think
that is true? I mean, there are thousands of
people on earth that die every day without any knowledge of
this. How does a man come to the place
where he has that knowledge? It is by the grace of God, the
same grace that Noah found. When the Lord is pleased to give
a man eyes to see and ears to hear and a thankful heart to
embrace it, and that our conscience is purged from dead works to
serve the living God because we see Him who loved us with
an everlasting love paying the price for our sin. Can we fully explain that? No,
we can't. Can we fully comprehend that?
No, we can't. But by the grace of God, He gives
His people faith to believe it. And not just simply to express
a faith in it, but that it is the hope that burns within their
soul. That there is no other one to
whom they desire to come. Nothing in my hand I blame. Simply
to thy cross I cling. Naked come to thee for dress.
Helpless look to thee for grace. Thou art to the fountain fly.
Wash me, Savior, or I die. Because it is the blood of Christ
that is that which causes the guilty conscience to be made
clean, knowing that there is no other. There is no other sacrifice
that needs to be made. See, we're not waiting for something
to be done for us, dear brethren, but we're looking at that which
has already been done, accomplished by Jesus Christ. How much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead
works? Now what's the dead works that
he's talking about here? What the high priest was doing,
that's dead works. Why is it dead works? Because
every high priest that ever offered a sacrifice in that tabernacle
was dead. Every one of them. All of those
things that they did ended in death. But you see this one whom
we have seen high and lifted up, raised up on that tree in
our behalf, he not only did he die, but we know that He rose
again and He has entered into the presence of the Father in
the behalf of His people. And for this cause, what is this
cause? The cause is for the people of
God to purge our conscience from dead works. What is the purpose
of the gospel? It is so that life and immortality
might be brought to light. Why do we preach the gospel that
men might see and hear and believe? That they might say, He is the
Savior. He is the Lord. Now, does that
mean that there is a little card we can fill out and we can say,
well, here it is, I believe, now I am in? No, it means that
every time we look at Him, we believe that He is the Savior. that He is that One who has entered
in once into the holy place. We do not look for another. We
are not waiting for another. We are not hoping to get a better
deal down the road. See, some people, they just kind
of use what they call faith as a stop-gap method. They are going
to take that until somebody comes up with something better down
the road, but we are not looking for something better. We don't
want anything better because our conscience has been purged
from dead works to serve the living God. We know in whom we
have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that
which I have committed unto Him against that day, Paul said.
Oh, that I might know Him and the power of His resurrection. Not being conformed to this world,
but being conformed to Christ. You see, that is the work of
the Spirit of God that purges the conscious from dead works
to serve the living God. We don't serve Him for loaves
and fishes. We don't serve Him for what we're
going to get. We're not trying to get people to give something
so they'll get something. I get so sick and tired of this
stuff that pours out of the radio and the TV, all these preachers
talking about giving something to get something. Brethren, Christ
gave it all! You don't have anything God needs
anyway. You couldn't get one thing by
doing one thing, anything. If you gave everything you had,
it would never be enough. But Christ gave what He came
to give, and it was enough. And the conscience of God's people
is purged from dead works to serve the living God. And for
this cause, He is the mediator of the New Testament, that by
means of death or the redemption of the transgressions that were
under the first covenant or testament, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance. Now, here it is. This is the
glorious thing, dear brethren. I want you to see this. And for
this cause, He is the mediator of the New Testament. What is
the cause? for this cause that we might see what it is that
is ours. Because listen to what he says.
For the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant,
they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Now, you don't know what your inheritance
is going to be, do you? I mean, your daddy might be a
multimillionaire, but you don't know what your inheritance is
going to be. He might leave it to his dogs, or there's no telling. You don't
know. And there's only one way you
can know, because you might read the will. But until it's dead, it doesn't
make a difference, does it? Because the day before he dies,
he might go in there and change that will. And you wouldn't know what was
yours. But listen to what he says here. For where a testimony
is, that is a will. That is the disposition of one's
possessions. For where a testament is, there
must also of necessity be the death of the testator, or the
one who wrote the will. So until that one who wrote the
will dies, and you look over there in the box and you say,
yeah, he's dead. When the wheel's red, you can
know what it is, right? Because it ain't going to change
when that happens. It's going to be what it is right
there. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity
be the death of the testator. For a testament is a force after
men are dead. Otherwise, it is of no strength
at all while the testator liveth. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ, what
did he say to his disciples? He said, I must go away. He said, I know you want me to
stay with you, but it is needful that I go away. He said, it is
needful that I die. It is needful that I be crucified.
It is needful that I be put in a tomb. These things are needful. For a testament is a force after
men are dead, otherwise there is no strength at all while the
testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament
was dedicated without blood. Even in the law, it was dedicated
with blood. For when Moses spoke in every
precept, To all the people, according to the law, he took the blood
of goats, calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool, hissed
it, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This
is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto
you. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood
both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry, and
almost all things were by the law purged with blood, and without
shedding of blood is no remission." Now, that's what happens in the
Old Covenant. Almost, he said, all things were
purged with blood. But I'm telling you, in the new
covenant, all things were purged with blood. He said almost all
things were purged with blood. But you see, some things were
purged with fire, and some things were purged with water, if you
go back and read in the book of Numbers. Some things under
the law could be purged with fire, some with water. But, dear behold, in this covenant
that's given here, All things are purged by blood, and nothing
is purged without the blood of Christ. Without the shedding
of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that
the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with
these. So the blood of bulls and goats
could purify the patterns, because that's all there were, patterns,
illustrations. But he says here, but the heavenly
things themselves were better sacrifices than these. They had
to be something that is of higher value. For Christ is not entered
into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures
of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us. Now, He appeared once in the
earth and He paid Sin sacrificed once, did he not? That's what
the Scripture said. He hath obtained eternal redemption
for us. But he now has entered into the
presence of God in our behalf. And he did this so that we might
see it. Now how do we see it? Have you ever looked up into
heaven and seen the Lord Jesus Christ sitting there? No. You can't do it. You look all
you want to, you're not going to see it. But you see, there's
a clearer sight. There's a clearer sight than
what you can see with your eyes. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And Christ has revealed
Himself as that One who was entered in once into that holy place,
nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest
entered into the holy place every year with the blood of others.
For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world."
If he was a high priest after the order of Aaron, he would
have had to continue to make these offerings, would he not?
For then he must have suffered since the foundation of the world,
but now once in the end of the world. When did he do it? in
the end of the world. Now what is the end of the world?
It is the fulfillment of the purpose of God. That is the end. When you say the end of something,
you are speaking about the purpose of it. And the Lord has appeared
once in the end of the world. Why did God create the world? To magnify the glory of His grace
in Jesus Christ as He would redeem His people. That is the end of
the world, dear brethren. Somebody says, well, I believe
the end of the world is coming. No, brethren, the end of the
world has already come when Jesus Christ hung on Calvary's cross. And it is there that the people
of God rejoice and their conscience is purged from dead works to
serve the living God. They say, we see the Savior high
and lifted up. We want to worship Him. He is
our Lord. He is our King. He is our Master. He is the Savior. Now, do you want me to preach
something else? I mean, would you be more comforted
if I told you that it was something you needed to do tomorrow? Would
you be more comforted? No, I tell you, because the Gospel
is not about all of that. The Gospel is about what Jesus
Christ did and what He entered in once. And He died, dear brethren,
to give us an eternal inheritance. And had He not died, the inheritance
could never have been ours. But you see, there has been a
reading of the will because the testator died. And
He said, I will give you the keys to the kingdom. He said, I have made you heirs
and joint heirs with Christ. Dear brethren, I have read it
in the will. I mean, nobody can come along
and take that away. Why? Because the will said, Jews
shall be heirs and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. And when do
we have that? He seated us in heavenly places
even as we speak. Dear brethren, we are the inheritors
of the Kingdom of God. These things that Christ purchased
are ours. The redemption that is in Christ
is ours. How is it manifested with a conscience
that is made clean, pure, purged from dead works to serve the
living God? You see, Christ has made salvation
plain. He sent it forth. That's why
we've sent forth to preach the gospel, to comfort the people
of God. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith the Lord. The
Lord Jesus stood up and He said, The Lord has sent me to bring
deliverance to the captives, to preach the acceptable year
of the Lord. And that's what He's sent us
to do. And that's what He's demonstrated
that He's done. And all we're doing is just reading
the will. You see, because He had already
done what needed to be done. He made the will. He died. We saw Him die. We know that
He lives. But He has given us all things
that pertain to life and godliness in the blood of Jesus Christ
our Lord. Oh, what a glorious place and
standing for the people of God. I mean, we can't be condemned
there, brethren. We can't be destroyed. We can't
be separated from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. For those whom He loved, the
Scripture says, He loved till the end. Having loved His own,
He loved them till the end. Oh, brethren, what a glorious
place it is for us to look at that which Christ has performed
in our behalf. May the Lord give us a heart
and mind to rejoice in these things, to see them by the eye
of faith. If I could give you faith, I would, but I can't.
But God can. And He does. He gives men a heart
to hunger for these things. You know, men, oftentimes, doesn't
think he has faith. I place more stock in a man having
faith that doesn't think he has faith than the man who thinks
he has faith, because the man that thinks he has faith quite
often is looking at something he didn't. But the man who has the gift
of faith, he knows that it comes from God, and he can't He knows
he did it himself and he could ever bring it to pass. And so
quite often he wonders whether or not he has faith. And I believe
this is a true thing. We can see faith in God's people
easier than they can see it in themselves. You know, I can look
around and I see people believing in Christ. I look at myself sometimes
and I say, I don't think I believe at all. I don't know if I'm believing
or not. You see, God works in His people,
and He causes them to flee to Christ. Because He is the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, He is that One who has performed these
things in our behalf, and to whom else can we go? The Lord
asked the words of eternal life.