We're gonna look back here in
Hebrews chapter nine. And you know, we just sang that
song, nothing but the blood. What can wash away my sins? And we sang nothing but the blood. And so this message that I have
this morning would be a good opportunity for us to examine
ourselves in light of the word of God, to see if we really do
believe that salvation and the forgiveness of sins and cleansing
is nothing but the blood. Or is it, like for so many people,
it's the blood plus? The blood plus our faith. Well,
preacher, aren't we commanded to have faith? Yes, we are, but
faith doesn't cleanse us from sin. Nothing but the blood. Or it's the blood plus faith
and repentance. Well, aren't we commanded to
repent? Yes, the Bible says repent or perish. But repentance doesn't
cleanse us from our sins, nothing but the blood. I hope you see
what I'm saying there and you'll keep that in mind as we go through
this. I cannot think of a better way to begin the new year than
reading a will to you and seeing if you are one of those who are
recipients of the inheritance here. And so what I'm going to
do is I'm going to read our Lord's last will and testament to his
people. And who are his people? Well,
they're believers. They believe The gospel, they believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ as their hope of salvation. They believe that
it's nothing but the blood that washes away my sins. I love that
verse, it says, this is all my hope and peace. This is all my
righteousness. My righteousness before God is
not what I do. It's Christ. And it falls in
his death. But the last will and testament
of the Lord to us who are his children, in which, now listen
to this, in which we all equally share in an inheritance that
the Apostle Peter said, as I read at the beginning of the service,
an inheritance that's incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not
away And that right there tells you we didn't have anything to
do with this. But fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you. If we're believers now, sinners
saved by grace, washed in the blood of Christ, clothed in his
righteousness by the grace and power of God, we have a reservation
in heaven. And you won't get up there and
go to the desk and say, well, you've got to have the confirmation
number or we lost your reservation. Because it's incorruptible, undefiled,
and fades not away. Now how's that possible? I'll tell you how. It's all conditioned
on Christ. That's right. If any of it were
conditioned on us, We lose it. It would be corruptible. It would be defiled and it would
fade away. But because it's in the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is God manifest in the flesh, and because of
what He accomplished, now understand that, what He finished, completed,
not what He tried to do, not what He's trying to do now, But
what he has done and will do, it is incorruptible, undefiled,
and faded not away. Now, that makes me happy. I rejoice in that, and I'll tell
you why I rejoice in that so much, because I know myself. I know that I'm a pitiful specimen
of a child of God. and that if any moment, even
right now as I'm standing before you preaching, if God were to
judge me based upon my best efforts to obey Him, that I would get
nothing but eternal damnation. I know that. You say, well, I
don't believe that. Well, you haven't, God hasn't
shown you yourself yet. If He ever does, if He ever brings
you to look in that mirror of His law, You're gonna agree with
him when he said, there's none righteous, no, not one. There's
none that seeketh after God. You say, I'm saved because I
did this, or I did that, or I believe that. There's none that seeketh
after God, no, not one. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. Now listen to me, that's goodness
according to God's standard of goodness, not yours or mine.
I see people all over this world doing a lot of good in the human
realm, but when it comes to God's goodness, we're not even on the
map, folks. We're centers. And that's why
salvation has to be by God's free and sovereign grace, based
upon the righteousness of another. Look back at Hebrews chapter
nine, look at verse 14. He's making a contrast here between
the old covenant law, the law of Moses, the 10 commandments,
the ceremonies, the tabernacle, the blood of bulls and of goats.
Those were the blood sacrifices that the high priest had to take
the blood into the holiest of all and sprinkle the Ark and
all of that. Those were all types, they were
figures, they were symbols. They did not do anything for
a sinner spiritually or eternally. But they were pictures of Christ,
the Lamb of God, who does his people much good spiritually
and eternally. They were never to look at the
blood of bulls and goats as putting away their sins. They were to
look beyond those types, those symbols, and look to the Messiah
who was prophesied and promised to come for the forgiveness of
sins. So if those, but now those things
did accomplish, those animal sacrifices did accomplish a ceremonial
separation. And that's it. Temporary, earthly,
not spiritual, not eternal. Well, if they did that, verse
14, how much more shall the blood of Christ the blood of the anointed
one, the blood of the God man, who through the eternal spirit,
not an earthly temporal thing, but the eternal spirit offered
not the blood of bulls and goats, but offered himself. He offered
himself. without spot to God. He had no
sin. He knew no sin. He was not a
sinner, but he had the sins of God's people charged to his account,
imputed to him. How much more shall the blood
of Christ purge your conscience? You know what the conscience
is, don't you? That's your standard in your mind and heart of right
and wrong. That's the thing which either
accuses you or excuses you. And man by nature has a defiled
conscience. Even the religious people. Because
you see, they think that what they do for God or what they
are enabled to do for God excuses them. They make a judgment. I
know I'm saved because, how many people will tell you this? I
know I'm saved because when I was 12, I walked an aisle and gave
my heart to Jesus and got baptized. And my question to you is this.
I wouldn't offend you for the world, but I'm just gonna tell
you the truth. Where do you find that in the Bible? It's not there. It's become like a rite of passage
in our day. We gotta get those kids in the
baptistry. And it's a sad thing. Number one, what gospel are they
hearing? And what do they really know?
I know when I was baptized, well, when I was dunked in water, when
I was 14, I didn't know a thing, really. I just went up there
because I knew it was gonna please Mom. And the preacher, and the
people, I really, I'm serious. There was an older guy there,
he was about and I admired him, he was a youth leader, and he
went up to rededicate a thing. And I followed him. That's what
I did. Now you may say, well, my experience
was different, but I'm gonna tell you something. Any experience
you have that's not under the preaching of the true gospel
is not of God. It's not salvation, in other
words. So he says, how much more shall
the blood of Christ Purge your conscience. Cleanse it from the
guilt of sin. That's what the conscience means
here. I'm a sinner. I deserve nothing but God's wrath.
What am I gonna do? What's gonna get me out of this
mess? The blood of Christ. How much more shall the blood
of Christ Now, are you commanded to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ? Yes, you are. But it's not believing that purges
the conscience. It's believing that the blood
of Christ alone purges my conscience. Does that make sense to you? What can wash away my sins? And
he says, from dead works. You know what dead works are
in the scripture? It's people's efforts to be saved, to be declared
not guilty, to be holy by their works. Salvation is not by works, and
it's not by works at any stage, to any degree, or at any time. It's all by grace based upon
the work of Christ. His obedience unto death. And
those who don't see that, who are trying to be saved by their
works or kept saved by their works, that's dead works because
it'll lead to nothing but death. You know when God first revealed
that? That's not new doctrine. He revealed
it back in Genesis through two brothers, Cain and Abel. Cain brought the best that he
could do, the best that he worked for, his crop, he was a farmer. God rejected him. First of all, rejected him because
there was no blood. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission, no forgiveness, no cleansing from sin. Justice
has to be satisfied, that's what that means. and then came presenting the
works of his hands. That's deadly, folks. And here comes Abel with the
blood of a lamb, picturing, prophesying Christ, the Lamb of God. God
accepted him. Why? Because what can wash away
my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
You see that? So only the blood of Christ can
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Serving the living God is walking
by faith, God-given faith in Christ, serving God, motivated
by grace, love, and gratitude, and then the dead works, that's
repentance. What I used to think was good
and right and recommending me unto God, I now see as dead works. And I turn to Christ and turn
away from them. That's repentance. The purging of our consciences
is a great and miraculous work of the Holy Spirit in our minds
and hearts. Wherein he reveals to us that
Christ, Christ our surety, having taken responsibility for my whole
salvation, having my sins charged to His account, He who knew no
sin, and as my substitute who took my place under the law of
God and went to the cross to die to satisfy the justice of
God against me, but it was put upon Him. and to pay the full redemption
price for my salvation. Back up in verse 12, he talks
about how Christ obtained eternal redemption for him. He obtained
it. He didn't leave it open-ended. He didn't say, I'm gonna do my
part, now you gotta do yours. He paid the full redemption price.
It was his blood, his death. He's completely satisfied God's
justice for our sins by his blood. That's his death on the cross. His blood, his death, listen,
the Bible says that the gospel is the revelation of the righteousness
of God, Romans 116 and 117. His blood, his death is the very
righteousness of God, the justice of God, by which all his people
are justified before God. And what is it to be justified?
It's to be forgiven of all my sins. My debt is paid. He didn't
leave me to pay one penny. It's to stand before God in the
righteousness of Christ charged to me. My sins charged to Him,
His righteousness is charged to me, imputed to me. Paul wrote
in Romans 4, talking about Abraham, blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputes righteousness without works. His blood has obtained eternal
redemption for all for whom he died. This is what one old writer
called the law of the blood. Where the blood of Christ has
satisfied the law, whoever he did that for, they must go free. It's not that they're saved because
they add their faith or their repentance or their obedience,
and I'm gonna show you that in just a minute. The Spirit shows
us that Christ's blood answers all the debt of our sins, of
our fallen condition, and by His blood, He merited, He earned,
He deserved for His people, listen to this, all grace here and all
glory hereafter. And that's summarized here in
these passages. Look at verse 15 of Hebrews 9. And for this cause, he's the
mediator of the New Testament or the new covenant. That by
means of death. Now again, don't let these things
pass by you. By means of death. Listen, faith
is a gift of God and it's a precious thing and we must have it. But
what he's talking about here is the last will and testament
of our Lord, whereby we receive an inheritance, an eternal incorruptible
inheritance that cannot fade away. Based on what? Not our faith. Our faith is part
of the inheritance. Did you know that? That by means
of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were
under the First Testament. Now that's the Old Testament
saints, the Old Testament believers. In other words, the death of
Christ on the cross was just as effectual for the Old Testament
saints in their day, based upon the promise, you can look at
it as a promissory note, from a God who cannot lie, from a
God who cannot be defeated, from Christ who will come, who's sure
and certain to be there, And it was just as effectual for
those Old Testament believers as it is for us today. And he says that we're under
the first test, they which are called, called by God, might
receive what? The promise of eternal inheritance. Here is number one, the promise
of eternal inheritance conditioned on one thing. the death of Christ. Look on, he says in verse 16,
for where a Testament is, there must also of necessity be the
death of the testator. You see, this is all about the
merits of the obedience unto death of Christ. Verse 17, for
a Testament is a force after men are dead. What put this Testament,
this inheritance in force? Otherwise it is no strength at
all while the testator liveth. Christ had to die. That wasn't
an accident. That wasn't plan B. That was
set up before the foundation of the world. The names of God's people, his
elect, were written in the Lamb's book of life, the Lamb that was
slain. Verse 17, for a testament is a force after men are dead,
otherwise it is no strength at all while the testator liveth.
Verse 18, whereupon neither the first testament, that is that
old covenant, was dedicated without blood, that's that animal blood,
which could not take away sins, which could not bring forth righteousness. And he describes this, verse
19, when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according
to the law. He took the blood of calves and
of goats and with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled
both the book and all the people." That blood, it's a bloody religion. Because what was God teaching
there? What was He revealing there? That His justice against
the sins of His people must be satisfied. Moses pictured that when he sprinkled
that blood all over everywhere. Verse 20 saying, this is the
blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. That
high priest had to go into the holy of holies where the ark
of the covenant with the blood of an animal. And if he'd gone
in there without blood, you know what would have happened? He'd
have been struck dead. Verse 21, moreover, he sprinkled
with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.
This is how much this blood means, this death. And almost all things
are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood
is no remission. Without the death of Christ,
there's no forgiveness of sins. Now this is the promise of eternal
inheritance conditioned on the death of Christ. To accomplish
this great work and bring in an eternal inheritance, it took
Christ to be the mediator of the new covenant, the New Testament. No mere sinful man could have
accomplished such work. If I die for you, it will not
wash away your sins. It might be noble, it might show
my love for you, but it will not wash away your sins. But
Christ died for his sheep. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. And this is his great work. Again,
he completely satisfied God's justice and provided by his death
a perfect righteousness by which sinners can stand before God
and be accepted. And he did it for all for whom
the Father had given him before the foundation of the world.
He said that in John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth me shall
come to me. him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. And that included those who lived
in the Old Testament days before the actual coming of Christ in
time. It was so sure and certain that
God would send forth his son and that his son would do that
great work on the cross that God justified those Old Testament
saints based upon the blood of Christ, the righteousness of
Christ. You say, how could he do that
before Christ came? Because God never fails. When a sinner dies in his or
her sins, that is not the failure of God or the failure of the
preacher. It's the failure of the sinner
who died. God's going to save his people. Those Old Testament
saints, they received all the benefits and the blessings of
this inheritance. As I said, it's like a promissory
note, a promise. And the Bible says all the promises
of God in Christ are yea, and in him, amen. What the old covenant
priesthood and the animal sacrifices could not do, Christ did do.
And along with the blessings of redemption by his blood and
justification before God based on his righteousness imputed
comes the promise of eternal inheritance. Notice this, the fullness of
this eternal inheritance includes what? What does it include? Well,
it includes all promises of eternal life, all blessings, all grace
here, all glory hereafter. In Ephesians chapter one, Paul
wrote these words in verse three, blessed be the God and father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with what? You
know what it says? All spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. What are those blessings? Let
me just give you a brief list of them. The Lord says to his
people who have been brought to faith in Christ, I bequeath
unto you a place in God's kingdom, an eternal, ever-abiding, unchangeable,
incorruptible place in God's kingdom, beginning with our election
unto salvation before the world began. He chose us in Christ. He didn't look down through a
telescope of time to see what you were going to do, because
if he did that, it would be a total failure. The Bible says that
we're all sinners and that if left to ourselves, we will not
come to him. So he chose us in Christ. The
Savior says to his people, I bequeath unto you complete justification
before God. Fully cleared of all charges.
This is part of our inheritance now. If you're a believer, you
can claim this inheritance. Fully cleared of all charges.
All charges against us are dropped. Why? Because we believed? No,
because of the blood of Christ. What can wash away my sin? The
price of our redemption is fully paid. We can never be charged
with the debt of our sins. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justify. We can't
be condemned. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died, yea rather is risen again at the right hand of the
Father, making intercession for us. There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ. There's no eternal
punishment, no eternal death, forever forgiven of all our sins,
totally, completely. Past, present, future. We're
wholly righteous in God's sight based upon Christ's righteousness
imputed. That's what His death means.
God has charged us with righteousness so that we're forever justified
in Christ. We're made the righteousness
of God in Him. And God has been reconciled to us in Christ. will be reconciled to God in
him. The Savior says to his people, I bequeath unto you full and
complete adoption into God's family. He adopted us. We're
joint heirs with Christ, our elder brother. What Christ has
earned for his people, they will receive fully. We're citizens
of his kingdom, members of his body, brethren in his household. We're priests under God with
full free access into the holiest. Based on what? Well, I had a
good day today and I feel better about myself, so no, not based
on that. Based upon the blood of Christ. The Savior says to his people,
I bequeath unto you complete sanctification in the new birth
by the Spirit of God. He sends forth His Spirit because
He died. We have the Spirit's work in
regeneration. Somebody asked the question one
time, can an heir refuse to take possession of an inheritance?
And the answer is yes. And if left to ourselves, we
would not receive this inheritance. Now every believer here knows
that. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know it. 1 Corinthians
2.14, and what is it he won't receive? 1 Corinthians 2.12,
that which the Spirit of God teaches, which is freely given. The natural man, the natural
man and natural woman is so full of pride that he must contribute
something to his salvation. That's right. But left to ourselves, we wouldn't
receive this inheritance. But thank God, He does not leave
the heirs of promise to themselves. Part of our inheritance, part
of this last will and testament is the miracle of spiritual and
eternal life, the gift of regeneration. Look over at Hebrews 8 and look
at verse 10. In the New Covenant, that's the
New Testament, he says, for this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days say, I will put my
laws into their mind and write it in their hearts. I'm gonna
give them a new heart. Give them a new life. Now let
me ask you, now this is quoted from Jeremiah during the days
of the old covenant. Why didn't God do that for the
nation Israel? I'll tell you why. because he
sovereignly chose not to. And that makes it right. But
he said, the days are coming, I'm gonna give them a new heart.
Ezekiel said that in Ezekiel 36. Jeremiah says, I'm gonna
write my laws in their hearts and I will be to them a God and
they shall be to me a people. Look at verse 11. They shall
not teach every man his neighbor, every man his brother, saying,
no, Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the greatest.
How do you know God? Through Christ. He's the revelation
of God. He said, verse 12, for I will
be merciful to their unrighteousness. He didn't say I'm gonna be merciful
if they cooperate. I'm gonna be merciful to their
unrighteousness. Now, for God to be merciful to
my unrighteousness means that it can't be conditioned on me. And their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. What that means is this. It doesn't
mean God forgets. He doesn't change. It means He
doesn't hold them against us. He doesn't charge us with it.
Why? Because He charged them to Christ and Christ died. That's
why. Even the faith which we Believe
is a gift of God, for by grace are you saved. Through faith,
and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, lest any man
should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus, unto, not because of, but unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians
2, eight through 10. The Savior says to his people,
I bequeath unto you a permanent position in the household and
family of God. He'll preserve us unto final
glory. In fact, in Ephesians chapter
one, the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Spirit, which is part
of our inheritance, the indwelling, the continual indwelling of the
Holy Spirit, which Christ told his disciples, he will never
leave you. That gift of the Holy Spirit
is called the guarantee, the down payment, the earnest of
our redemption. our final glory. Now, to whom
is this inheritance given? Well, when we read this last
will and testament, to whom is the inheritance given? How can
I claim this inheritance? Well, he says, look back up at
verse 15 again, of Hebrews 9. He says, and for this cause,
he's the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death,
for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament,
they which are called, might receive the promise of the eternal
heaven. It's to those who are called.
What is this calling? It's the calling of the gospel
and the power of the Holy Spirit, which brings a sinner to believe
and repent. It's given to sinners who deserve
nothing but wrath. Listen, men may cut rebellious
children out of their wills, but you know what? All of God's
children are by nature rebellious. God has no worthy children to
which he bequeaths this inheritance. Did you hear that? God has no
worthy children to whom he bequeaths this inheritance. Well, what
makes us worthy? Worthy is the lamb that was slain. My worthiness is not me. It's not the good things that
people see me do. My worthiness is Christ, the
Lamb of God. He's my only worthiness. You
know, that's the song of the redeemed in heaven. Worthy is
the Lamb. Not worthy I am. Worthy is the
Lamb. We're all by nature rebellious
and unworthy, but God saves us by His grace through the blood
of Christ, His righteousness. and we become children of the
promise. Who are the children of the promise? Those who believe
the promise. What is the promise? It's the promise of salvation,
including all this eternal inheritance, conditioned on the death, the
blood, the righteousness of Christ. Many people today say it's God's
promise to save sinners who will meet certain conditions. They'll
tell people blankly, Christ died for you, now you've got to seal
the deal. That's not the promise of the
gospel in the Bible. What are the conditions of the
promise? Well, that's what he's telling us here in Hebrews chapter
nine, the death of the testator. A death that brings satisfaction
and establishes perfect righteousness. Now, will my faith meet that
standard? And the answer is no, but I have
faith in Christ who met that standard. The blood of Christ
alone. Those who are called are those
who believe this promise and repent of dead works. Now I want
you to, I'm gonna conclude the message this way. I want you
to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. I know I've gone a little longer
today, but we're gonna eat back here, so you don't have to get
to a restaurant or anything. We're gonna take the Lord's Supper. And this ties in exactly what
the Lord's Supper is all about. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter
11 and look at verse 23. The Holy Spirit
is inspiring Paul to teach the church at Corinth the realities
of what the Lord's Supper is all about. And he says in verse
23, he says, for I have received of the Lord that which also I
delivered unto you. This is not my word, Paul's saying,
it's God's word. that the Lord Jesus, the same
night in which he was betrayed, took bread. In verse 24, when
he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take eat, this is
my body. Now the body of Christ is his
sacrifice as our surety, our substitute and redeemer. He,
in a perfect sinless human body, God in human flesh, the word
made flesh, he gave himself. He said, this is broken for you,
his body broken. this do in remembrance of me.
And then he says in verse 25, after the same manner, also,
he took the cup when he had sup saying this cup is the new Testament
or the new covenant in my blood in his death. That's what Hebrews
nine is talking about the death of the testator and his blood. It symbolizes what he gave his
body for, to satisfy the justice of God. His blood means his death.
His blood means his righteousness imputed, charged to his people,
whereby God justifies them and accepts them. And he said, this
cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do you as oft as
you drink it in remembrance of me. Now look at verse 26. I'll
show you something very important here. For as oft as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you do show, Now that word show means
sometimes it's trans, 10 times in the New Testament it's translated
preach. Y'all are gonna do some preaching today. When you take
that wafer, that unleavened bread and that wine, it's also translated
declare, teach, speak, that's what you're doing. You're giving
a testimony in other words. Not audibly, but in the symbol
and the type. And he says, what you do? He
said, you do show the Lord's death till he come. Now, later on there he says,
let a person examine themselves and so let him be. Let me tell
you about that self-examination. It's not looking within yourself
to see if you're worthy. It's not looking in yourself
and saying, well, is there any unrepentant sin in my life? I heard that preach once. This
self-examination is examining myself to see if I really believe
that it's nothing but the blood. Am I really looking to this Christ
according to this promise under this gospel? Is that what I'm
doing? The preacher who stands up before
people and tells them that Christ died for everybody, now the rest
is up to you. They're not showing forth or
declaring his death. That's a counterfeit, you understand
that? To show forth his death is to
really believe what can wash away my sins, nothing but the
blood. This is all my hope and peace.
This is all my right. Examine yourself. Is that what
you really believe? Then believe in Him and repent
of dead works and confess it. We confess it first in believer's
baptism and then we confess it continually by taking the Lord's
Supper.