Alright, let's open our Bibles
again to Hebrews chapter 9. We come in our study of the different
books of the Bible to the book of Hebrews. And the whole of
the book of Hebrews gives us one message. Christ is better. Christ is better than all the
Old Testament laws and sacrifices and ceremonies and priesthood.
Christ is better than anything. Now that being true, Christ is
better than anything. Shouldn't we seek Christ above
anything else? We should. And I hope I can preach
a message this morning by God's Spirit that will cause us to
seek Christ above all. And I just have one point, and
I pray that the Spirit would drive home to our hearts this
morning, and it's this. Salvation is all in Christ. It's all in Him. The title of
the message is Eternal Redemption in Christ. This eternal redemption,
eternal salvation is found entirely in what Christ has accomplished
for his people without anything we contribute to it whatsoever.
Now, I know that's the gospel that's constantly preached from
this pulpit. I know you've heard that many
times before. Salvation is entirely in Christ. By hope, the Holy
Spirit will make that point so crystal clear to our heart this
morning. It's all in Christ. It's all
in Him. And that's always been true just
because there was the law and the ceremonies and things of
the Old Testament. The law and the ceremonies never
took precedence over Christ. It's always all been in Christ. That was true of the Jews in
the Old Testament just as much as it's true of us today. You
think about the Jews in the Old Testament, the life and things,
someone like one of our children born into that Jewish economy. They had every advantage, didn't
they? Nobody else had the word of God, but they did. Nobody
else had the prophet speaking to them for God, but they did.
They had the only true worship of God there was to be found
on the earth. It was only in Israel. They had the priesthood. They had the sacrifices, they
had the ceremonies. Nobody else did, just the Jews. But now all
those things, all they were, were earthly things. They were
men doing earthly things with elements from the earth. There's
no saving power in them whatsoever. All those things were, were pictures
of Christ. There was no salvation in them.
God gave those things to the nation Israel to point his people
to Christ. Those Jews who had every advantage,
they had the priesthood, the sacrifices, the sermons, they
had the Word of God on those scrolls. They still had to believe
on Christ. They still had to look to Christ
or they would perish in their sins. Because salvation has always
and only been in Christ. You know why that is? Because
that's where the Father put it. He put it in Christ. And the
exact same thing is true of us today. We have many advantages. You young people, you've been
born here, your parents have been bringing here since before
you could remember. You don't realize right now how
many advantages you have. What an advantage it is you have
to grow up being taught the scripture, being given memory verses, to
have these teachers who teach you, to have a pastor who teaches
you, goes through the word, teaching you the word of God. an advantage
you have. Oh, I'm so thankful that God's
given you those advantages. But now you listen to me. Are
you listening? None of those advantages will
save you. None of them will. I'm glad you got them, but those
advantages will not save you. Your salvation depends on Christ
alone. You've got to have faith in Christ.
You've got to look to Christ, not all these advantages that
God's given you. We must believe on the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what the writer to
the Hebrews tells us here in chapter nine of Hebrews, beginning
in verse one. Then verily the first covenant
had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary. Now he calls the law the first
covenant, but the law is really not the first covenant. The first
covenant, God's first covenant, the one he had first is the eternal
covenant of grace. Because redemption is eternal.
Salvation has always only been in Christ. That's God's eternal
purpose. But in order to make Christ more
beautiful, in order to show us how much we need Christ, to make
Him more beautiful to us, God gave man the law first. See, the law was the first covenant
revealed unto man. It wasn't God's first covenant.
It was just the first covenant revealed to man. But grace is
really God's first covenant. Because salvation in Christ is
eternal. And that law, which was the first
ordinance or first given to men, had ceremonies that God gave
men. This is how God was to be worshipped
through these ceremonies. And God said he's to be worshipped
through those ceremonies because they were all pictures of Christ.
The ceremony didn't save them. The ceremony was given to them
until Christ came to point them to Christ. They were just pictures
of the eternal redemption that would be accomplished when Christ
came. And those ceremonies and those sacrifices, this ought
to be obvious to us. There's no salvation in it because
all those ceremonies and they were just earthly elements. There
are things taken from this earth, the earth that's cursed of God
because of our sin. Well, then they can never put
away sin. I mean, a tree that grows from cursed ground, you
can't build a building with it and say it's holy. It's come
from cursed ground. They were only pictures of Christ
who did save his people. Now read on, verse two. There
was a tabernacle made. The first wherein was the candlestick
and the table and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary.
Now there was a tabernacle made. It had two compartments in it,
two rooms. And that tabernacle was made
according to the instructions God gave to Moses. He says down
here later on, these things which we cannot now speak particularly,
we won't get into all the details and pictures here of the tabernacle. We've done a study on that before.
That'll take weeks. So we don't have time to speak
of all these things now particularly, but every stick, every element
that made up that tabernacle, every stitch of it was a picture
of Christ. Those skins, the linen, the post,
the boards, the silver sockets, all of them were pictures of
Christ. And that's all they were. All
they were was pictures. Being in that tabernacle never
saved anybody, never gave anybody eternal life. And the same thing
is true of us. Now, we're blessed to have a
place we can come worship, aren't we? You attend a place where
Christ is preached every week. By God's grace, Christ is preached
here. And that's good. I'm glad. I
hope you keep coming and listening. But you're not saved because
you're in a building where Christ is preached. This building is
just made of steel, whatever else, you know, sheet rock, whatever
it's made of. It's just earthly elements. Being
in this building where the gospel is preached won't save you any
more than being in that tabernacle could save anybody. If we don't
believe on Christ, we'll be damned sitting here in these pews. Isn't
that so? Because salvation is all in Christ. It's had through faith in Christ
by believing Him, by just relying on Him to do everything for us. So I hope you'll keep coming.
I hope you'll keep listening, because that faith that lays
hold on Christ, you know where it's had? Faith comes by hearing,
hearing by the Word of God. Salvation is in Christ. It's
not in a building. That's what that, just like that
tabernacle. And in that tabernacle, you know, there was just one
source of light and there wasn't a window. The only source of
light in that building was the golden candlestick. And that
golden candlestick was a picture of Christ. I'm sure it's beautiful. I'm sure it's a piece of work.
It was made by cunning craftsmen. But now all it was was a picture
of Christ. You couldn't be saved by reading
the scriptures in light of that candlestick. Couldn't do it.
That light from that candlestick didn't let anybody see God any
better than these fluorescent light bulbs do. There's no religious
significance to it whatsoever. God can only be seen as who he
is in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of the attributes
of God, God's holiness, God's justice, God's love and mercy
and grace, God's sovereignty can only be seen for what it
really is, in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what
that candlestick was a picture of. And then in the first room
of that tabernacle, there was a table. It had the showbread
on it. And that showbread was a picture
of Christ. Christ the bread of life. And
that's all that bread was. It was a picture of Christ. Eating
that bread on that table of showbread never gave those priests eternal
life. You know, once a week, the priest with his family ate
those loaves. That was what they ate. But that
showbread never gave anybody eternal life, did it? The priest
always died, even though he ate that every week. The priest always
died and was replaced by his son. So there was no spiritual
saving power in that bread. It was just a picture of Christ.
Just like eating the bread of the Lord's table. Lord willing,
we'll observe the Lord's table. We'll remember the sacrifice
of our Savior, Wednesday night. And the men will pass out the
bread. But taking that little piece of unleavened bread and
eating it, I'll give you an eternal life. That bread's a picture. It's a confession. When we take
that bread, it's a confession. My salvation is entirely dependent
on Christ being sacrificed for me. saving significance in it
whatsoever. It's just a picture of Christ,
just like the showbread was. And that tabernacle, that first
room, they called it a sanctuary. And all that was was a room.
It was set apart for holy use. And that's all it was, just a
room set apart. It was just a picture, just like
this room. This room is not a sanctuary.
It's a room. It's an auditorium. Now it's
a room that's set apart for holy use. It's a room that's set apart
for preaching and for worship, for prayer and saying his praises,
but it's just a room. Being in this room will not save
anybody any more than being in that tabernacle could have saved
anybody. Being in that room, in the first room, the holy place,
didn't save Aaron's sons, did it? When they offered strange
fire for the Lord, God killed them, didn't He? Being in that
room didn't give anybody any life. Just like being in this
room doesn't give anybody any life. Salvation is only found
by being in Christ, not in a room on this earth. Now read on verse
three. After the second veil, there
was a second room in that tabernacle. After the second veil, the tabernacle,
the room, which is called the holiest of all, which had the
golden censer and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid round about
with gold. wherein was the golden pot that
had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the
covenant, and over at the cherubims of glory, overshadowing the mercy
seat, of which we cannot now speak particularly. And in the
tabernacle, there was a second room. There was the holy place
where they came in, did the service of God every day. And once a
year, they went behind that veil into a second room, the holiest
of all, the holy of holies. And in that room, there was the
Ark of the Covenant. crowning piece of furniture,
the crowning glory of that tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant was in
that room. In that Ark, there was the tables of the law, the
broken law of God was kept safe in that Ark. Couldn't leave it
in Moses' hands, could you? Moses didn't have that thing
in his hand for just a few minutes, he broke it, threw it down and
broke it. God had to make some second tables and put them in
the Ark to keep them safe. That's where they were kept,
in the Ark. Also in that Ark, there was that golden bowl had
man in it. And in there was Aaron's rod
that budded, showing us Christ, our high priest. And those things
were covered with the mercy seat. On top of the mercy seat, they
made cherubim. Their wings went out over it,
shadowing the mercy seat. And all those things were pictures
of Christ. They're showing us that everything
we need, everything a sinner needs, is found in Christ. He's everything we need. But
now that box, that Ark of the Covenant, all it was was a wooden
box covered with gold. There was no spirit. You couldn't
touch it and be saved. As a matter of fact, if you touch
it, according to the law, you'd die, wouldn't you? Nobody could
touch that Ark. Salvation is only found by being
in Christ. It's all in Christ. And the Shekinah
glory of God dwelt. Those cherubim had their wings
stretched out in that shadow there. the Shekinah glory of
God shone. The spirit, the presence of God
dwelt in that holy of holies. And the high priest, he couldn't
go in there every day, just one day a year. One day there was
appointed, the day of atonement. And he took that blood of the
sacrifice and went behind the veil and sprinkled that blood
on the mercy seat. But you know, even being in that
room, in that little 15 by 15, the holy of holies, The Shekinah glory of God was
in there. Even being in that room didn't
save anybody. It didn't give eternal life. Aaron went in there,
I don't know how many times, and he died, didn't he? Being
in that room did not give anybody eternal life. Now the Shekinah
glory of God, whatever that means, I don't know how that looked
or what it was, but God's glory doesn't dwell in this room like
He did in the Holy Pole. But you know, Christ is here,
just like he was in that Holy of Holies. He's here this morning.
I know he is, because he promised, where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there I am in the midst of it. Christ is
in our midst this morning, blessing us, all how we pray, bless his
words, the hearts of his people. But you know, even being in this
room, while Christ himself is here, won't save anybody. Salvation is only found by being
in Christ, by laying hold of him by faith. Read on verse six. Now, when these things were thus
ordained, the priest went always into the first tabernacle, into
that first room, the holy place, accomplishing the service of
God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every
year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for
the heirs of his people. Now, when the high priest went
in there, the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, what
he was doing, he was accomplishing the service of God. Israel was
worshipping God the way God said he's to be worshipped, through
the blood sacrifice and the blood being sprinkled on the mercy
seat. The high priest, he took the blood of the sin offering.
He took the blood of the burnt offering. He took it in a bowl.
He took that bowl and it went behind the veil. He dipped his
finger and he sprinkled it on the mercy seat seven times. You
know what that was a picture of? Nobody was saved by the sprinkling
of that animal blood. But that was a picture of how
sinners are saved. There's mercy. Oh, there's forgiveness of sin
in the blood of Christ and His blood applied to our hearts.
Now, all those ceremonies, all the sacrifices, all the The men
would be impressed with it today. I mean, this is a religious looking
ceremony. You know, they went through all
day on that day of atonement. But those things were just pictures.
They were nothing more than pictures. There was a an abundance of animal
blood shed on that day. And there was abundance of animal
blood shed every day morning, noon and night. But there is
no cleansing of sin on the soul. by the shedding of an animal's
blood. Can't be done. God never intended to save anybody
by those ceremonies. All they were were pictures of
Christ. They were pictures of the one
who's coming, the Lamb of God who is coming, who would, by
His blood, obtain eternal redemption for His people. That's what He
tells us here, beginning in verse 8. The Holy Ghost this signifying,
this is what the Holy Ghost was teaching through all those ceremonies,
that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest
whilst the first tabernacle was yet standing, 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. which stood only
in meats and drinks and diverse washings and carnal ordinances
imposed on them until the time of reformation. Now, while this
tabernacle was still standing before Christ came, Israel had
to observe this day of atonement every year. They had to observe
it because this is the way God commanded that he be worshiped.
They had to do the other sacrifices of every day all through the
year. They had to do those things because at that time, That was
how God commanded He be worshipped. Through these pictures of Christ,
His Son. And they had to observe that
ceremony, the Day of Atonement, every year. I mean, you'd think
people would just... Did they get so used to seeing
it that it was just... What's the right word? Did it
become trite to them? Did it become just nothing to
them? They saw it so many times. But you know what the Holy Ghost
was teaching every year? They did the exact same steps,
the exact same ceremony every year. Every year. You know, the
Holy Ghost was teaching us that salvation of the soul cannot
come through ceremonies or religion or through animal sacrifices.
Look here at Hebrews chapter 10, verse one. This is what he
says. He says it so plainly. For the law, having a shadow
of good things to and not the very image of the thing. There's
no substance to the law. All it could do is cast a shadow,
a picture of Christ. Can never, with those sacrifices
which they offered year by year continually, make the comers
thereunto perfect. For then, if they had been made
perfect by those sacrifices, would they not have ceased to
be offered? Because if the worshipers once purged, should have had
no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices, they're
not purging of sin, what is there? There's a remembrance again.
made of sins every year. For it's not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. See, those ceremonies,
those animal sacrifices, they didn't take sin away, did they?
All it did is to remind people. We're still sinners, we still
got sin on. We haven't been cleansed by these animal sacrifices. All those things were pictures
of Christ who would come and bring in, obtain eternal redemption
for his people. And I'm telling you, nothing's
changed from that day until today. Nothing has changed. We cannot
be saved by putting these sinful bodies through some religious
ceremony, by going through some motions and do whatever it is
you want to do. Those things cannot save our
sinful soul. Walk in an aisle. There's this
aisle. Well, magic is there, man. Walking
around is not going to do anything for your soul. Somebody in this
building made a steal. It's not going to do anything
for our souls. Even being baptized in a pool of water. You know,
I told you this before. There's our baptismal pool. We
have a baptismal service. I pull it over here and I fill
it up with a garden hose. Our soul can't be cleansed by
that. Those are just religious ceremonies. If nobody could be saved by those
religious ceremonies before Christ came, we certainly can't be saved
by them after Christ came. What's this teaching us? Salvation
is in Christ alone. He obtained eternal redemption
for us, and it's all in Him. Salvation can't be found in our
faithful church attendance. I hope you're faithful, but salvation
is not there. Salvation does not be found in
our faithful praying. I hope you pray. Believers pray. You can't not pray just like
your body can't not breathe. But our salvation is not found
in our faithful praying. Salvation is not found in our
teaching. We got teachers. You all teach every Sunday. Salvation
is not in that. It's not in our knowledge of
scripture. It's not in our giving. Salvation is in Christ alone. Am I making that point? It's
Christ alone. Salvation is in his person, not
in ours. Salvation is in his obedience,
not ours. Salvation is in the blood of
Christ's sacrifice, not something we give up for 40 days whenever
Lent is. That's foolish. It's not in our
sacrifice. It's in his. Salvation is in
Christ's love for us, not our love for him. Salvation is in
God's grace, not in our merit. Salvation is in Christ alone. Now you run to Christ alone.
You rest and depend on Him alone. The way into God's presence is
not coming into that 15 by 15 room that we call the Holy of
Holies or any other building for that matter. The way into
the presence of God is by being in Christ. He's the door. He's
the way. And that's what all those ceremonies
in the tabernacle, that's what it pictures. But now all they
were were pictures and shadows. Nobody could see them clearly,
could they? Well, salvation in Christ was never made clear until
the time of Reformation. Now, the Reformation is not the
movement Martin Luther started. I'm glad he did. I'm glad he
went and nailed those things to the door and took a stand.
But that's not what he's talking about here. The Reformation is
the time that Christ came. And he corrected the errors the
way we view salvation. It's not in the ceremonies. It's
in the person of Christ. It's not in animal blood. It's
in the blood of Christ. That law that was given, you
know what it did? It was an imposition to people.
The law imposed things on people. The law imposed the day of atonement. You didn't have a choice. You
had to do it. It was imposed upon you. But Christ came. and he gives
salvation to his people. He doesn't impose it upon them.
Christ is not an imposition to his people. Oh, it's Sunday.
I get up early and go to church. Oh no. Oh, salvation is a gift that's
lovingly given and lovingly received. And all of that salvation, all
that free gift, it's all found in Christ. Verse 11, but Christ,
being come in a high priest of good things to come, by greater
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained the eternal redemption for us. The Lord Jesus
Christ brought in a better priesthood. And this is the theme of the
whole book of Hebrews. Christ is better. Christ came
as the great high priest, as the high priest who brought in
everything better. Look back in chapter 7 of Hebrews.
Christ is the better high priest because his priesthood is eternal.
Hebrews 7 verse 19. For the law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing in of a better hope did, by the which we draw
nigh unto God. And inasmuch as not without an
oath, he was made priest. For those priests, the priests
of Aaron's sons, 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. Not after the order of Aaron,
after the order of Melchizedek. By so much was Jesus made sure
to give 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 continued with ever, hath an unchangeable
priesthood. And look how much better that
is, verse 25. Wherefore, because he has an
unchangeable priesthood, he'll never die. He is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Christ brought in a
better priesthood because his priesthood is eternal. Aaron
and his sons, the best they could do was take the blood of an animal
Take it into a 15 by 15 room and sprinkle it on a box, a wooden
box covered with gold. Christ our high priest, he didn't
go into a little 15 by 15 room. And he says here, he went into
the holiest. He went in to the holiest of all. He took his blood
into the presence of the father himself, and he offered his sacrifice. He offered his blood as a sacrifice
that would pay for the sin of his people. And the father accepted. His blood got the job done. Put away the sin of his people
forever. He's a better high priest. He got the job done. Christ did
something Aaron and his sons never one time did. He sat down. You know why he sat down? There's
no more work to do. Look at Hebrews chapter 10 verse
12. But this man After he'd offered just one sacrifice for sins forever,
he sat down on the right hand of God. He sat down because the
work was finished. Now, at the end of the Day of
Atonement, they'd gone through all the ceremonies, all the sacrifices,
all the rituals, everything they had to do. High Priest was done. He'd done with that. He didn't
have to do that. All those ceremonies of the Day of Atonement for another
365 days. But you know what? They had to
offer more sacrifices tomorrow. Tomorrow afternoon. Every day
they had to keep offering sacrifices until finally a year rolled around
and they had to go through the ceremony of the Day of Atonement
again. It never ended. You know why it never ended?
Their work was never finished. And their work was never finished
because their work could never make anybody perfect. Their work
could never obtain redemption for anybody. Christ, our great
High Priest. He came. He didn't offer many
sacrifices. He offered one. One sacrifice
for sin. And then He rested forever. Because
the one sacrifice of Christ is all you need to put away all
your sin. It's all in Him. Now rest in
Him. Christ, our great High Priest. He's a better High Priest. And
this high priest brought a better sacrifice. Look at Hebrews chapter
10, verse 14. For by one offering, he hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. The thousands and
thousands and millions of sacrifices that were offered by Aaron's
sons never put away one sin. Not one, but Christ. He brought a better, they didn't
have a very good sacrifice. If their sacrifice didn't put
away sin, that's not a very good sacrifice. Christ came, brother,
he brought a sacrifice. The sacrifice of himself put
away the sin of all of his people for us. A better sacrifice. He
brought in this high priest, he brought a better priesthood,
he brought a better sacrifice, and look at Hebrews chapter eight.
He brought in a better covenant. Hebrews chapter eight, verse
nine. Not according to the covenant
I made with their fathers, and the day when I took them by the
hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they continued
not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For
this is the covenant I'll make with the house of Israel. After
those days, saith the Lord, I'll put my laws into their mind. I'm not going to write them on
tables of stones and put them in the ark anymore. I'm going to
write them on their mind. I'll write them in their hearts, and
I'll be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And
they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they're all going to know
me. They'll also know me from the least to the greatest. For
I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more." Now, that's the covenant of grace.
That's a covenant that's far better than the covenant of law,
isn't it? The covenant of grace. Christ, our great high priest,
brought this covenant of grace to his people. Christ brought
in better words, not just words on paper or words on scroll,
or not just the words of a prophet or words of the law that nobody
wanted to hear. Christ brought a better word.
He came as the word incarnate. He put his word on the hearts
of his people. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
word of God. He is God's expression of himself. If you want to know who God is,
look at Christ. He's God's expression of himself. And when I hear Christ
the word, now I see. Now I see what I could never
see in the law. Now I see it's all in him. He
fulfilled it all. Christ brought in a better rest.
He didn't bring rest on a day. You know, the Jews never did
like the Sabbath day. They never did want to rest on
that day. Christ didn't bring a day. He brought spiritual rest. He brought rest to the heart.
You can rest. Just quit. Quit trying to please
God. Quit trying to do everything
right so God will accept you. Just quit. Rest in Christ. Just rest in
Him. He brought in spiritual rest.
Rest for the heart. Christ our great High Priest
brought in a better hope. Hope in Christ. Hope by faith
is a whole lot better than hoping in our obedience to the law.
Hope in Christ is an expectation. I know how that's going to turn
out, because he already fulfilled everything. His obedience is
already perfect. Hope in my obedience is a wish. I hope it comes out right, but
it probably won't. It definitely won't, my friend.
It definitely won't. It's a pipe dream, hoping in
our obedience. But hope in Christ? Now that's
a good hope. We have a good hope through Christ.
Christ brought in better blood. He didn't bring the blood of
animals. He brought the perfect blood of the God man. And by that perfect blood, He
obtained, He bought eternal redemption for His people. I want to talk
to you for just a few minutes about these two words, obtained
and redemption. did not come to make salvation
possible. No, sir. He came and he obtained
eternal redemption for his people. He bought it. He made it sure. And that redemption that he obtained
is eternal. Now, I tell you this often, eternal
doesn't begin with me and go out that way. No, eternal doesn't
have a beginning or an end. It's eternal both ways. We are
far too full of ourselves to think eternity begins with me
and goes out that way. No, it doesn't have a beginning
or an ending. That's the redemption Christ obtained for his people. This word obtained is in a tense
that we don't have in English language. It means it's in the
tense of all the tenses, all the same tense. It means past,
present and future all at the same time. That's eternal without
beginning, without ending. That's the redemption Christ
purchased, obtained for his people. He obtained it for his people
before creation, before the foundation of the world, before time as
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. This is this has
been eternal in him. And then in time, Christ came
as a man. He went to Calvary's tree and
in time he obtained eternal redemption for his people in time. he paid
the price. In time, in the appointed time
of God, he shed his blood and put away the sin of his people.
And right now as we speak, as we speak, Christ our Savior is
making intercession for us. I'm doing a mighty poor job talking
about the Savior. And the truth be told, if you're
honest with yourself, you're doing a pretty poor job of listening.
Christ our Savior is making intercession for me as I speak and you as
you hear with His precious blood. Having eternally obtained eternal
redemption for us. Now brethren, redemption has
been obtained. We can't lose it. Christ bought
it with His blood. The price has been paid. And
the Holy God will never take it away. He can never charge
sin where the blood of His Son is put away. He's obtained eternal
redemption for us. And that payment had to be made.
Salvation requires a payment be made to God for our sin. And
that's what this redemption is all about. You see, we've sold
ourselves into bondage to sin. We've sold ourselves into bondage
to the law. The law's got a price on our
head. Sin's got a hold of us. Have you ever tried to stop sinning?
Did you do it? Of course you did. You know what
that shows? You're in bondage to sin. You
can't stop. You're bonded. The law will never
stop its demands upon you. You can't escape it. Well, if
we're going to go free, somebody's got to pay the price. Aaron and
his sons, the children of Israel, taught us this. The Holy Ghost
is signifying we can't pay the price. Clark, we've got nothing
to pay. But Christ came and he paid the
debt. He paid it in full. There's no
more debt. That's redemption. The price
has been paid. I want to give you a couple of
things here about redemption. First look at Colossians chapter
one. Redemption can only be purchased by the blood of Christ. Colossians 1 verse 12. Giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet, fit to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness and translated us in the kingdom of his dear Son.
How on earth did he do that? Verse 14. In whom we have redemption
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Redemption can only
be bought by blood. by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now don't turn to these. I'm
out of time. Let me turn to them quickly. Just read them to you.
You can write them down and read them this afternoon if you want. Ephesians
1 verse 7. Redemption can only be found
in God's grace. It can never be something we
deserve. It's something God must give
us by his grace. In whom we have redemption through
his blood. The forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of his grace. And this eternal redemption is
complete redemption. It's complete redemption from
sin. It's complete redemption from the law. Complete redemption
from sin. Romans 3 verse 23 says, we've
all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Now we've all
sinned. So redemption is something every
single one of us needs in it. Everybody in this room needs
redemption from our sin. I've got good news, I can tell
you where it's found. Being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that's in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation,
a covering through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness,
not ours, but His, for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God. That's full redemption from sin. And redemption is redemption
from the law, redemption from the curse of the law. Paul told
us about that in the book of Galatians, Galatians chapter
three, verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law. How? Being made a curse for us. For it's written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth upon a tree. Sometime this afternoon, you
read Revelations chapter five. This redemption is so wonderful.
You know, we're going to sing about throughout all of eternity. Redemption in the blood, through
the blood, by his blood, he has redeemed us. Now, there's one
last thing I want you to see here about this eternal redemption
that Christ has obtained for his people. Not only Did the
sacrifice of Christ satisfy God? The sacrifice of Christ satisfies
the conscience of his believer of his children to the sacrifice
of Christ. Our great high priest brought
in eternal peace, eternal peace, peace with God and peace in the
conscience. Now, that's something the law
and the ceremonies could never do. All those ceremonies could
do is remind people of their sin. Did we just observe? As you get older, you kids won't
understand this, but as you get older, it seems like Christmas
comes so fast. Didn't we just put that stupid
tree back down in the basement? Now we got to put it up again?
Where'd the time go? It's happening so fast. And they
think, didn't we just get done observing the day of atonement?
Has it been a whole year? And that thing kept constantly
rolling around. You know what it was doing? It
was reminding them, your sin's not put away. Your sin's not
put away. The blood of that goat didn't
put your sin away. The blood of that bull didn't put your sin
away. You still need a sacrifice that will put your sin away.
That was just constantly picking at their conscience. Your sin's
not put away. Your sin's not put away. You need a sacrifice.
Up did Christ came. And He offered His blood before
the Father. And the Father said, it's enough.
I'm well pleased. I'm satisfied with that. Christ
applies His blood to the hearts of His people. You know what
His people say? I'm satisfied with that. That's what I've been
looking for. He's what I've been looking for.
I don't need to look for anything else. Satan comes and whispers
in your ear. The Lord shouldn't have thought
that. Shouldn't have said that. Shouldn't have done that. Oh,
you better look for something. Make up for your sin. And a believer
in faith looks to Christ and says to our accuser, What's in? It's gone under the
blood of Christ. My conscience is clear. I don't
need anything. That's what Paul talks or the
writer to the Hebrews here talks about in verse 13. Look here,
Hebrews 9 verse 13. For the blood of bulls and of
goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctified
to the purifying of the flesh. How much more shall the blood
of Christ through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God. Now, salvation, have I made this
point yet? Salvation is in Christ alone.
We can't add to it by our works. Our works are dead works. When
we bring our works before God, we think, well, I'll make myself
a little more savable. I'll make up for this a little
bit through my works. And God will be happy with me.
You know what we're doing? We're bringing dead works. Our works
can only produce death, not life. Because everything we do is mixed
with sin. And what's the wages of sin?
Death. Our works bring forth death.
Well, you know when you'll quit those dead works? You know when
you'll quit trying to make God happy with you by what you do?
When you see Christ. When His blood is applied to
your hearts, your conscience will quit telling you to get
to work. Because there's no more work left to do. Christ did it
all. He paid it all. All the debt
I owe. I don't have to go to work to
pay my debt anymore. Christ did it for me. That's the only way
our conscience will ever quit telling us, get to work. Your
conscience will tell you, just rest. Once the blood of Christ
has been applied to our hearts. Because eternal redemption has
already been obtained. And then, and not till then,
Will we serve God in faith, not in our dead works, but in faith?
Because salvation, let me say it one more time, is not in anything
we do. We don't contribute to it at
all. It's all in Christ. All of it.
How I pray that the Lord will enable us by his spirit to see
the Lord Jesus Christ and cause us to just rest in him. Redemption's
been obtained. Now rest. All right, let's bow. Our Father, how we thank you
for our Lord Jesus Christ, our great high priest. Everything
about him is better. Everything he brought is better. A better priesthood, a better
sacrifice, a better covenant, better blood, a better tabernacle. How we thank you that He has
by Himself, by the blood of His sacrifice, obtained eternal redemption
for His people. Father, we pray for the grace
and the faith to being able to see Christ and simply rest in
Him. Rest in Him who has done all
things well for His people. Father, how we thank you. As we leave here this morning,
you would impress upon our hearts the glory, the sufficiency, the
majesty of our Lord Jesus Christ. Cause us to look to Him and Him
alone for everything that we need. For He truly is all we
need. It's in His precious name we
pray and give thanks.