Alright, let's open our Bibles
again to Hebrews chapter 7. The title of the message this morning,
We Need Better. We need better, don't we? Look
around this world, and I don't care what it is you look at,
we need better. You look at the religion, certainly
of the day, the religion, and nothing's changed from 6,000
years ago, the religion of the Jews, We need better. That's
what the subject of all these verses in our text this morning
are telling us. We need better. Verse 11 of Hebrews
chapter 7 tells us, if therefore perfection were by the Levitical
priesthood or under it, the people received the law. What further
need was there that another priest should rise after the order of
Melchizedek and not be called after the order of Eric? A God,
you know, gave the Jews He prescribed to them the way that God is to
be worshipped in the Old Testament. God must be worshipped through
the blood of the sacrifice of an animal who was offered by
God's high priest. Now it had to be the animal that
God commanded and must be offered by the priest that God appointed.
And to at least some degree, the Jews followed that way of
worship. But God never gave that law.
He never gave those ceremonies as a way for sinners to be saved.
It was always a temporary thing. It was always pointing to Christ.
The priesthood of Aaron never could make any sinner perfect. It could never bring any sinner
to God. And that's why, that's what the
writer is telling us here, that's why we need another priesthood.
That's why we need someone to come after the priesthood of
Melchizedek, not Aaron. See, in order for sinners to
be saved, Aaron's priesthood had to be replaced. because it
wasn't doing any good. Aaron's priesthood was just a
picture. And eventually the picture had
to be replaced with the person. We have any hope of being saved.
The shadow had to give way to substance and the law must be
replaced by grace for sinners ever to be saved. So I want to
give you six reasons why we need better. Six reasons we need better
than Aaron's priesthood. And these six reasons, I don't
want us to see the weakness of Aaron's priesthood. I want these
six reasons to show us that Christ is all we need. When I say we
need better, this is what I mean. We need Christ. And here's, I
want to give us six reasons why we need Christ. Number one is
this, we need a better law. Verse 12, for the priesthood
being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of
the law. Now, sinners never can be saved
by us keeping the law, because we don't have the ability to
keep the law. It's not the ability of the flesh.
It's impossible for this flesh to keep the law. So if we would
be saved, there's a necessity that the law be changed. Now,
I say the law has to be changed. I don't mean God ever changed
His law. God never changed His law one
bit. He never changed the requirements
of the law one bit. If you and I would be saved,
the law still must be kept. We must keep the law. But there
has to be another law. We don't need a different set
of rules. We can't keep the first set. We couldn't keep a second
set either. I mean, Adam just had one rule he couldn't keep
in. So we don't need a different set of rules. The law he's talking
about here, we need a change in power. like the laws of nature. We need a change in ruling power
for a sinner to be saved. Sinners can't be saved by the
law of Moses, but we can be saved by the law of grace. You know,
God never did intend for sinners to be saved by their obedience
to the law. And I can show you that in Galatians
chapter three. God never intended sinners to
be saved by their obedience to the law. Salvation's always been
in Christ. It's always been in Christ's
obedience and Christ's sacrifice for his people. Galatians 3 verse
21. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid. For if there had
been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But we need a change in that
because the scripture hath concluded all under sin that the promise
by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. See, the salvation is always
by God's promise. It was always by faith, by the
faith of Christ to come and keep the law for his people. By the
faith of Christ to go to Calvary and be the sacrifice for the
sin of his people. And by faith in Christ and those
who believe, there had to be a change in the law. And if you
look at Romans chapter eight, Paul tells us what that law is. It's the law of grace. It's the law that there is always
life in Christ, never by our obedience to the law. Romans
8 verse 1. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. See, that's what I need. I need
a change in the law. I need a change of the law of
sin and death to a law of life in Christ. That's the better
that we need. So we talk about this priesthood.
Sinners need a priest, a better priest, who operates under a
better law. And Christ is that priest. We
need better. We need Christ. That's what we
need to make salvation sure. The law of grace says that sinners
are saved. Sinners are saved in Christ and
that law can never change. It's like the law of gravity.
The law of gravity says if you hold an object in your hand and
let it go, it's got to fall. It's got to go to the ground.
It's a law of gravity. You can't change that. Well,
the law of grace says this, sinners are saved in Christ. Not by what
they do, but what he did for them as their representative.
And that truth, that law can never change. Now that's the
better that we need. Salvation through grace in Christ,
that's the better law we need. All right, number two, we need
better. We need a better priest with
better offices. Verse 13, Hebrews 7. For he of
whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe,
of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For it's evident
that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing
concerning priesthood. Now the law of Moses said only
men from the tribe of Levi could be priests. But our Lord Jesus
came from the tribe of Judah. We saw that in Matthew's genealogy
this morning. Christ came from the tribe of
Judah. So according to the law of Moses,
Jesus of Nazareth could never be a priest. He's from the wrong
tribe, but that's okay. We don't need yet another priest
from the tribe of Levi. We need better. We need a better
priest with better promises and better offices and that priest
than all the priests of the tribe of Levi. And if you look back
at Genesis chapter 49, Way back there, Jacob, as he
was dying, told us that he was coming. Jacob told us that the
Savior was coming through Judah. Genesis 49 verse 8. This is as
Jacob is dying, he's blessing his sons, and he says to Judah,
thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Thy hand shall
be in the neck of thine enemies. Thy father's children shall bow
down before thee. Judah is a lion's well. From
the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stooped, he couched as
a lion, and as an old lion, who shall rouse him up? The scepter
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet, until Siloam come, and unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. Now there's the king. Christ
the king is coming from Judah. But look here now in verse 11,
he starts to describe the priestly work of Christ. Binding his foal
unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine. He
washes garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes.
His eyes shall be red with wine and his teeth white with milk.
That's Christ coming, binding his foal unto the vine, going
to be the sacrifice for the sin of his people. This King who's
coming through Judah is also going to be the priest. Well,
then there's got to be a change, doesn't there? Because the priests
always came from the tribe of Levi. Well, if a priest is coming
from the tribe of Judah, there's got to be a change. And that's
the change we need because the priests of Levi, they never had
the power to put away sin, did they? They went through a lot
of ceremonies, but they didn't put any sin away. So we need
a better priest. Christ came as the priest, not
after the order of Aaron, not from the tribe of Levi. He's
a priest after the order of Melchizedek. And remember, Melchizedek is
the king priest. Melchizedek is the only king
priest mentioned in the Old Testament. He's the only one. Melchizedek
didn't come as a priest after the order of Aaron. He came as
a priest after the order of himself, a different kind of priest, a
better kind of priest. And that's why Christ came after
the order, a priest after the order of Melchizedek, because
he's a king priest too. And Christ is the better that
we need. Christ is the great high priest. He came as a totally
different order, doing something different. He came offering sacrifices,
but he offered a better sacrifice. He offered a sacrifice that will
atone for sin. He didn't slay an animal. He
gave himself. Think that he gave himself as
a sacrifice for sin. So unlike the sons of Aaron,
Christ had the power to put away sin because he's the king and
his sacrifice he offered as a priest was himself. So he didn't just
deal in pictures and types and shadows. He didn't just ceremonially
make his people clean. He didn't just give us a picture
of how sinners are going to be saved. He saved his people from
their sin. by offering himself and making
his people righteous. Since he's the king priest, he's
got the power to do it. To make his people righteous
through the sacrifice of himself. See, he's the better that we
need. We need a priest with the power to save. Christ is that
priest. And he doesn't just come as the
priest. He comes holding all the offices.
Prophet, priest, and king. Christ is all. He is all that
we need. Now let's run to him, he's what
we need. Thirdly, we need a better saving power. Verse 15, Hebrews
chapter 7. And it is yet far more evident
that after the similitude of Melchizedek there riseth another
priest who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment,
but after the power of an endless life. For he testifieth thou
art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now the
men who were the priests from the tribe of Levi, they became
priests because they were appointed by a carnal law, weren't they?
A carnal fleshly descendant. That's how they became priests.
They just happened to be born in the tribe of Levi. And those
priests were just carnal, fleshly, sinful men. And that's the only
realm that they could operate in. Carnal, fleshly, sinful way. And because of that, because
they were only operating in their sinful flesh, They didn't have
any power to do anything. So it's obvious that priesthood
has got to be set aside so a better priesthood can come that does
have the power to save. See, Aaron had to be set aside
so Christ could come who is better. So Christ could come who has
all the power to save. Aaron had no power. He got to
be set aside so Christ who has all power could come. And it's
evident we need a better priesthood. Aaron was the priest in Israel. He was the high priest in Israel.
But not anymore. They didn't last for very long,
did it? Why not? Because he died. And his sons
had to replace him. Aaron died because he didn't
have any power. The Lord Jesus Christ, he's the
high priest. And you know what? He's still
the high priest, isn't he? He's the high priest because
of the power of his endless life, because he lives eternally. The
Lord Jesus lived a perfect life of obedience to his father and
earned a righteousness under the law from his father. I told
you, if we're going to be saved, it's going to be through the
law. The law still must be kept. That's why Christ came as a man
to keep the law for his people. And there is power in his life,
all the power. He had the power to please the
father so that the father audibly spoke from heaven and said how
pleased he was with this man. Christ had the power to bring
in everlasting righteousness, righteousness that could never
be lost. He had the power, the power of
his endless life, gives life to his people, gives righteousness
and life to his people. Christ the Savior did die. He
kept the law perfectly for His people, but they were still sinners. Something had to be done with
their sin. So Christ was made sin for His
people. He took their sin away from them in His own body on
the tree. And there's power in Him. There's
power in His blood. Because of His perfect life,
there was power in His sinless blood to atone for the sin of
His people. And Christ died. Brother, he
rose again. He rose again, never to die again,
because all the sin had been laid on him was gone under his
blood and the grave had no power to hold him. Because of the power
of his endless life, he rose from the dead, giving evidence
he had justified his people from their sins. And through the power
of his endless life, he gives his people life, eternal life
that they can never lose. See, Christ had the power to
lay his life down for his people. There's going to come a day,
you're all going to walk by a casket and this carcass is going to
be laying in it. And that's going to be the failure
of this carcass. It's just going to fail. It's
going to die. That's just the way it is. I'm not going to be
in that casket because I had the power to lay it down. That
power just taken from me, overcome by it. Our Lord Jesus had the
power to lay His life down. He laid it down voluntarily as
a sacrifice for the sin of His people. He had the power to take
it up again because of His perfection, the power of His endless life. And He uses that endless life
for the good of His people. You see, everything He has ever
done has been for the good of His people. From eternity, when
He stood as surety for His people. through all his earthly ministry,
through his sacrifice, through his death, through his burial,
through his resurrection, through his ascension back on high, where
right now he uses the power of his endless life for the good
of his people to make intercession for their sins. Through his intercession,
the sins of his people are always forgiven because he always pleads
his perfect sacrifice, his blood for the sins of his people. Aaron
never could do that, could he? No, Aaron couldn't make intercession.
His intercession was just a picture of Christ. And the only power
Aaron had, and it was mighty poor power, was to be a picture
of Christ he was to come. Just a picture, that's the only
power he had. But the intercession of Christ,
our high priest, is better. Because through his intercession,
he has the power to give life to his people. Verse 25 tells
us, Wherefore, he is able also to save them to the uttermost,
to come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them. See, the high priest of old,
he operated under the law, and it was a law of death. It was
a law that could only produce death. But Christ, our high priest,
the high priest of his people, he operates under the law of
life. It's impossible to die in him. The gospel we preach is the law
of life in Christ. Whoever's in him must live because
of the power of his endless life. See, Christ is the better power
that we need. All right, here's the fourth
thing. We need a better hope. A better
hope. Verse 18. For there is verily
a disannulling of the commandment going before, for the weakness
and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing in of a better hope did, by the which we draw
nigh unto God. Now we need a better hope, and
this word hope here, I tell you this often, is not a wish, it
means expectation. All right, what is it that you
and I can expect from the law? We can expect death, can't we? We can expect death because God
said the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Well, that's all we
can do is sin. So we can expect the law to give
us death. And that's why the writer here
says the law of Moses was unprofitable. That wasn't unprofitable in pointing
sinners to Christ. It wasn't pointing and saying
it wasn't unprofitable in this sense, showing us we need somebody
to keep the law for us. We need a savior because we can't
keep the law. The law is profitable for that,
but the law of Moses was unprofitable as far as giving life. The law
can't give you and me life because all we can do is disobey the
law. Look at Galatians chapter 3 again. Sinners like you and
me have no hope of life through the law. Galatians 3 verse 10. For as
many are For as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse." If you're under the works of the law, you're trying
to make God happy with you by how well you keep the law. God's
not happy with you. You're under the curse. For it's
written, "'Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them.'" If you
want God to be happy with you by the way you keep the law,
you got to keep all of it perfectly and not just outwardly. but inwardly,
in heart, in desire, in motive. Well, that's not good news for
us, is it? We're under the curse. But that no man is justified
by the law and the sight of God, it's evident, for the just shall
live by faith. For the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Well, law doesn't
do us any good because we don't do, we can't do, we can't obey.
So we must die. But look over at page chapter
four, verse 21. Even though that's true, even
though the scripture plainly sets that out, people still desire
to earn a righteousness, to earn a salvation, to earn God's pleasure
by how well they keep the law. Well, Paul says to them, tell
me, ye that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the
law? Don't you hear what the law says? And in the next verses,
Paul gives us an allegory of Ishmael and Isaac. He said, if
you desire to be under the law, now look at this allegory. Ishmael
represents the law. He represents that which is born
of the flesh, trying to keep the law. Isaac represents what
grace produces. That's the allegory, Ishmael
and Isaac. Well, what is the, if you desire
to keep the law, ask yourself this question. What is the only
thing God can say to Ishmael? Ishmael represents those under
the law. What's the only thing God can say to Ishmael? Cast
him out. Verse 30, this is Paul's conclusion
after looking at this allegory. Nevertheless, what say the scripture,
cast out the bond woman and her son, for the son of the bond
woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. It's
impossible to mix grace and works. Those who desire to be under
the law, do you hear what the law says? You must be cast out. You must be. So there's no hope
for us in the law, is there? Then we need better. We need
a better hope, a better expectation than the law can give us. We
need Christ, don't we? We need Christ. Not only is he
a better hope, the only hope a sinner has is Christ. No sinner
can make ourselves perfect by our obedience to the law, but
Christ did. He did make his people perfect
by his obedience to the law for them. Everyone who's in Christ,
Everybody he represented is made righteous. Everybody who believes
Christ is righteous. Look at Romans chapter four.
Paul tells us this, everybody who believes Christ, everybody
who's in Christ is righteous. Verse one, Romans four, what
shall we say then? that Abraham, our father, as
pertaining to the flesh, hath found. For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath wore up to glory, but not before God. For
what saith scripture, how is it Abraham was made righteous?
Abraham believed God, his faith, and it was counted unto him for
righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of death. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly.
His faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, without his works, saying, blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. See, God does
not impute sin to his elect people. Why not? Did they commit sin? Are they guilty of sin? Yes,
they are. Then why doesn't God impute sin to them? Why did he
charge sin to them? Because he charged it all to
Christ. Christ put it away under the blood of his sacrifice. That's
how sinners are made righteous. Now, Christ is the better hope. In Christ, we have a good hope,
a good expectation through grace. What is it that everybody who
believes Christ can expect? Eternal life. That living hope
in Christ, that better hope, lets us draw nigh to God confidently. The law always said stay away,
stay away, don't come, don't come, don't come, don't come.
Grace says come. A living hope in Christ says
come. Draw nigh confidently to God
because God accepts sinners in Christ. He is the better hope. Hope in Christ makes us not ashamed. Makes us not ashamed to come
to God in full assurance of faith. God will accept us in Christ.
As sinful as we are, God will accept us in Christ. That's a
good hope. That's the hope a sinner needs.
All right, fifthly, we need a better covenant. Verse 20, Hebrews chapter
seven. And inasmuch as not without an
oath, he was made priest. For those priests were made without
an oath. but this with an oath, by him that said unto him, the
Lord swear and will not repent, thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. By so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament. And they truly were many priests
because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.
But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for thee. Now, the high priest of
old was appointed under the covenant of the law, and he was appointed
just in the weakness of his flesh. He died, and the next high priest
took his place. His son took his place. He was
just appointed by the law that was weak. Now, nothing wrong
with the law. The law is not weak. It was weak
through the flesh because we cannot obey it. And when the
new high priest began to serve, there wasn't a swearing in ceremony.
He didn't swear, he didn't promise everybody, I'll be a faithful
high priest to you, I'll offer the sacrifices, I'll make intercession
for you. He didn't swear an oath saying
I'll remember to pray for you. He was just made a high priest
under the law because he was the old high priest's son. And
that cycle just kept repeating itself, it kept repeating itself.
There were many, many, many high priests. because they all kept
dying, just like all the rest of us do, through the weakness
of the flesh, the sinfulness of the flesh. See, the high priest
couldn't do anything for the people because he operated under
a covenant of the law. The word testament here, that
Jesus was made a surety of a better testament, that word is covenant. He was operating, the high priest,
just operating under the covenant of the law. And that law said,
do and live. disobey and die. Well, all the
law can say to us is die because that's all we can do is disobey
it. No matter how many ceremonies
of religion we go through, all we can do, all the law can say
to us is die because we disobey the law. So we need better. We need a better priest operating
under a better covenant. And that's our Lord Jesus Christ.
He was made a surety of a better testament, a better covenant.
Christ is a better priest. He's a better priest in how he
was made a priest. He was appointed by an oath,
an oath sworn by Almighty God. He appointed, the father appointed
Christ the high priest and gave an oath along with it. God swore
an oath that Christ would be a high priest forever. He gave
an oath to his people. Christ our Savior will have an
unchangeable priesthood. Now what does that mean? An unchangeable
priesthood. It means more than it just goes
on and on and on forever. It means this. Christ's unchangeable
priesthood means his priesthood is irrevocable. That's just a
great big word that means this. God can't take it back. He won't
take it back. He won't make it void. Christ
came and He fulfilled God's covenant of grace, His testament of grace. He accomplished all of the salvation
for His people, the people that the Father gave Him. He made
them righteous through His obedience. He bought the forgiveness of
their sin by shedding His blood to put it away. He bought acceptance
with God for them so that they can come boldly before His throne
of grace. And all of that is irrevocable.
God will never take it back. He'll never make it void. Those
people that Christ saved can never be lost. That's an unchangeable,
irrevocable priesthood. It's a sacrifice that cannot
be voided. God will never go back and say,
well, you know, there's been inflation, so the payment made
is not good enough now. Nope, they'll never say that.
Christ's blood is irrevocable. always enough to pay the sin
debt of his people. Dear dying land, thy precious
blood shall never lose its power until all the ransomed church
of God be saved to sin no more. You every generation, thanks.
Mine's the last one. God has got to be done with this
creation. God's got to be done with my
race. Lord's coming, my generation
will be the last one. Since everybody thinks that, I don't. I think
it's going to go on for quite a while, I don't know. Maybe
he will, maybe he won't. But I'm telling you this, if
God doesn't come, if Christ doesn't come for another thousand years,
this same gospel is still going to be what he's using to save
sinners. This blood that we preach, the blood that Christ shed, is
still going to be saving sinners. It's still going to be saving
everyone God chose to save because His sacrifice is irrevocable. God will never take it back.
Oh, I love that. I love it. I told Janet we were
going to make a bet yesterday. I already knew the answer to
it. I said, I'd love to make a bet. I said, sure, I already
know the answer. I love this hope, this expectation
where I already know the answer. I already know the outcome. See,
those old high priests kept dying. And I would always worry, you
know, what's going to happen to this boy? I've watched the
high priest, I've watched him raise Matt's son, and I'm like,
what son? He doesn't look like his daddy. I worry what's going to
happen when he becomes a high priest. You never have to worry
about that if you're trusting Christ. Because He never dies. And He never turns the salvation
of His people, He never turns over the keeping of His people
to anybody else. It's always Him. It's always
in His hand. See, the covenant of the law,
it never changed anybody, did it? All the covenant of the law
could do was expose our sin. Never changed anybody. Never
made them sin any less. Matter of fact, the Apostle Paul
said, when I saw the law, you know what it made me do? It made
me sin more. So the law didn't change anybody. Well, we need
a better covenant than that, don't we? We need Christ. He's the surety. of a better
covenant, the covenant of grace. God's grace is God not giving
us or God giving us what we do not deserve. Well, God gives
a sinner what they don't deserve. He gives them what Christ earned
for them. He gives them life because Christ
died for them. He gives them righteousness because
Christ obeyed the law for them. He gives them forgiveness of
sin because the blood of Christ paid the debt that justice demands.
He gives them everything because Christ is their surety. Their
surety. Now what does that mean, a surety?
Well, someone who is a surety for someone else is honor bound
to fulfill the covenant. For eternity, the Father and
the Son, they struck hands in this covenant of grace. And the
Lord Jesus Christ, God's son, became the surety for his people.
That means that he took all the responsibility of the salvation
of his people upon himself. It all depends upon him. None of it depends on them because
he's their surety. Just like when Jacob didn't want
to send Benjamin down to Egypt. He said, all my sons are dying.
They're all being taken away from me. I'm not sending, I'm
not sending Benjamin down there. I know what happens when I send
my son to you fellas. And Judah said, send him with me. Judah,
who Christ would come through, said, you send him with me. I'll be surety for him. You can
require mine. I'm bringing him back. I assume
the responsibility for him. That's what Christ said about
his people. Father, I'll be surety for them. I'll take the responsibility. You demand them at my hand. I'll
make them righteous by my obedience. I'll cleanse them from their
sin by my sacrifice for them. I'm here to tell you, he got
the job done because the son of God cannot fail. Now, we can't
succeed. He can't fail. And he's the surety
we need. You see that Christ is all we
need. Come to God. All right, here's
the last thing. We need a priest with a better
nature. Verse 26, Hebrews 7. For such an high priest became
us. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and made
higher than the heavens. Who needed not daily as those
high priests to offer up sacrifice first for his own sins and then
for the people's. For this he did once when he
offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests
which have infirmity. But the word of the oath, which
was since the law, maketh the son. who is consecrated forevermore. Now, Christ is the better priest
we need because he becomes us. He becomes us. He just exactly
fits the need of a sinner. Christ is holy. He's harmless. He's undefiled. He's separate
from sinners. He's made higher than the heavens.
He's everything we're not. So he's everything that we need.
He has the power to do what we cannot do. He can obey the law
for us. He's holy, harmless, undefiled. That makes him the suitable sacrifice. He's a sacrifice that becomes
us. He's the sinless sacrifice who has the power to save. The
sons of Aaron never could do that. And they showed us, all
they're doing is giving us a picture. Because before they ever offered
a sacrifice for the sins of the people, you know what they had
to do first? They had to offer a sacrifice for themselves. So,
Dan, right from the get-go, they showed us this isn't doing any
good. Right from the get-go. This isn't going to do any good.
Because I'm a sinful man. And I've got to offer this sacrifice
for my sins, just so I can make myself a picture of Christ who
is sinless. But finally, in God's time, Christ
came. He is sinless, whole, harmless,
undefiled. He went as the high priest to
offer a sacrifice for the sins of his people. He didn't have
to offer a sacrifice. When he went to Calvary, he didn't
have to offer a sacrifice first for his own sins, but he didn't
have any. And that's what made him able to put away the sin
of his people. Christ is sinless. That let him
take the sin of his people to himself. He took the sin of his people,
all of it, at one time into his one body upon the tree, and he
had the power to bear up under it. He had the power, just like
that scapegoat, to take it away to a land uninhabited, never
to be seen again. He had the power to bear it all
and put it away. by the sacrifice of Himself. I just thought of three or four
examples of what I could use to show in this. I won't use
any of them because it would just belittle the sacrifice of
our Savior. He gave Himself. He didn't pull
money out of his wallet to pay for it. He gave himself. He gave all that he is. He gave
his body to be broken, to be crushed. He gave his body to
die, to be mistreated, to be hated. He gave his body and he
made his soul. He made his soul an offering
for his father. And he made that soul an offering
for his father. You know what his father did? under His divine
wrath, because that's what His people deserve. He gave Himself
to redeem His people. And because of His perfection,
because of His strength, because of the power of His sinless blood,
the entire sin debt of His people is wiped out. So Christ is the
Son consecrated forevermore. That word consecrated means perfected. He is perfected forevermore.
He was already perfect, wasn't He? Tell you what the significance
of that means to you and me. Everybody in Him is perfected
forevermore. See, Christ is the better that
we need. He's all that we need. He's everything
that we need. Now run to Him. We need better than anything
we can produce. Then let's flee to Christ. By God's grace, we
will. All right, let's bow to Him. Father, how I thank you for your
Word, the power of your Word that reveals Christ the Savior. Father, I freely admit this was
a mighty poor attempt to proclaim the glory and the sufficiency
of Christ our Savior. But Father, you promised that
your Word is powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword. It will
never return unto you void. but will always accomplish the
purpose, whereunto you send it. Father, I pray you bless your
word this morning. Cause it to go forth in power.
I beg that your purpose this morning is mercy and grace to
your people. That you send it forth in power
to call your people out of darkness into the marvelous light of Christ
the Savior. That you send your word forth
in power to cause your people to close with Christ. cause us
to come to Him. Father, send Your Word forth
in power to the hearts of Your people to comfort and give assurance
and strength to Your people. How thankful we are You take
pity on Your people in this difficult, difficult world and the difficulty
of living in this awful, sinful flesh. How we need assurance
of faith, assurance of salvation in Christ our Savior. Father,
cause your word to take root in our heart, to reveal to us
Christ the Savior, to have us find rest and peace and comfort
and assurance in you. It is in his blessed name that
we pray and give thanks.