The book of Hebrews Hebrews chapter
9 How can guilty sinners men and
women like you and me People who know they've broken God's
holy law Willfully and constantly from youth up People who know
that in thought word indeed Constantly we break God's law We know that
we are vile, both in our character and in our conduct by nature.
How can such people as we are approach the Holy Lord God and
be accepted of Him? That's a huge question. The answer
is found right here in Hebrews chapter 9. Now, as you read this
book of Hebrews, always try to bear in mind the apostle was
writing to people who were Jews, who had been converted by the
grace of God, people who were Jews who obviously had been struggling
with the matter of doing away with the Old Testament ceremonies,
sacrifices, and so on, probably greatly influenced by Judaizers
who taught you must keep the law. So throughout this epistle,
the Spirit of God inspired the writer to use the word better. Better, better, better, all the
way through the epistle. Christ is better than the angels.
Christ is better than Moses. Christ is better than Joshua.
Christ is better than sacrifices. Christ is better than Aaron.
Christ is better than all. When you get to this ninth chapter,
he has three things, obviously, purposed to teach us in this
chapter. First, he shows us the preeminence
of Christ over the tabernacle, its priesthood, its sacrifices,
and its ceremonies. All of those things were fulfilled
and completely done away with by our Redeemer. He writes in
this ninth chapter to show us how all which had gone before
in the Levitical ceremonies, in the Levitical covenant, all
were just types and pictures of Christ, our only sin-atoning
high priest, our only paschal lamb, our only sacrifice to God. We have no approach to God but
by Christ. No access to God but by Christ. No acceptance with God but by
Christ. We come to God by faith in Jesus
Christ alone. Those Old Testament sacrifices
could never put away sin. and nothing we do can ever put
away sin. That's the work of our Lord Jesus
Christ alone. And thirdly, the Spirit's intent
in these 28 verses is to show us that all these Levitical ceremonies,
sacrifices, and services under the first covenant have now come
to their full end. They are forever ceased. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. He is the end
of the law's pictures, the end of all the sacrifices, the ceremonies,
the end of all the Levitical law, and the end of all the commandments
of the law. He takes away the first, that
is the old covenant of law, that he may establish the second,
the new covenant of grace. Now let's look at this ninth
chapter, these first 23 verses together. First in verses one
through seven, we're given a brief description of those carnal ordinances
of divine worship in the Old Testament. They are referred
to by the Apostle Paul and throughout the New Testament as carnal ordinances. Carnal ordinances, that is, they
were physical, fleshly things. Things that could be seen and
touched with the hand and seen with the eye. So they're carnal
ordinances. These things were but pictures
of our Redeemer as they're set before us here. Verse one. Then
verily the first covenant, that is the law, had also ordinances
of divine service and a worldly sanctuary, an outward physical
sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made,
the first wherein was the candlestick and the table and the showbread,
which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, that
is in the, as you go into the holy of holies, the tabernacle,
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 a golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that butted,
and the tables of the covenant, and over it the cherubims of
glory shadowing the mercy seat of which we cannot now speak
particularly. That typical ceremonial covenant
had the tabernacle, according to divine instruction. It was
made of earthly materials. It was made by exact regulations
as God prescribed it for the sacrificial worship of the Old
Testament. This tabernacle was, the outer
tabernacle, was 45 feet long, 15 feet wide, 15 feet high. It had just these two rooms,
separated by a thick, heavy veil. And then that inner tabernacle,
another 15 feet long and 15 feet wide. In the first tabernacle,
the first compartment, called the Holy Place, there are these
three pieces of furniture. the table of showbread. You walk
into the tabernacle, you see that table of showbread. And
this table, made of wood, overlaid with gold, pictures our Lord
Jesus Christ in both his deity and his humanity. And the loaves
on it, those twelve loaves, One loaf for each of the tribes of
Israel, because all that Christ has done, he does for his elect,
just as all that Aaron did, he did for God's Israel in the Old
Testament. Those loaves representing Christ,
the bread of life, and then the golden candlestick or the lampstand.
There were no windows there, no light of any kind, except
this lampstand, which represents Christ, the light of the world,
and then the altar of incense described in Exodus chapters
30. This continual sweet burning incense before the veil as you
approach the Holy of Holies as the high priest would approach
that Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. This altar of incense
is there representing the sweet, sweet intercession of our Lord
Jesus Christ on our behalf. The second compartment in the
tabernacle, the Holy of Holies or the holiest of all, measured
15 feet by 15 feet. There was one piece of furniture
in this holy place, the Ark of the Covenant. This one piece
of furniture, this Ark of the Covenant, was the most important
thing in all the Old Testament history of the Jewish church.
From the time that God gave Moses commandment to make the Ark until
the time that the Ark was taken from Israel, nothing was more
important in the worship of God in the Old Testament than this
Ark of the Covenant. It was arc about three and three
quarter feet long, and about a quarter, maybe a little bit
more feet wide, maybe a foot and a quarter, rather a foot
and a half. And this arc of the covenant was made of wood, overlaid
with pure gold, and on the arc of the covenant was a mercy seat.
Mercy seat with a cherubim. God said, I'll meet you on the
mercy seat. This was the place where the
high priest came and sprinkled the blood to make atonement for
the children of Israel once a year. Inside the mercy seat was Aaron's
rod, representing God's power. Inside the mercy seat was the
golden pot that had manna. And that manna, speaking again
of Christ, the bread of life. The mercy seat is called the
mercy seat, but it might be more accurately translated the propitiatory. You remember the publican bowed
his head in the temple and cried, God, be merciful. The word is
God be propitious to me, the sinner. The mercy seat was the
propitiatory, the place of atonement, the place where symbolically
and ceremonially the blood was applied for that one other thing
inside the Ark of the Covenant under the mercy seat. the tables
of the law the children of Israel had broken, representing the
atonement of sin by Christ Jesus and his sacrifice. Look at verses
six and seven. Hebrews chapter nine, verse six.
Here the sacrifices God required in his law are described. Now
when these things were thus ordained, the priest went always into the
first tabernacle, into 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 errors of the people. The
common priests, Aaron's sons, those common priests went every
day into the holy place. Every day, every morning, every
evening, they made sacrifice to God. But those sacrifices
and the burning incense and the trimming of the lamps that they
performed day by day, being done by those common priests. Those
priests were not allowed ever to go into the Holy of Holies
behind the veil where was the Ark of the Covenant. Into that
place went Aaron alone, and he went there alone with the blood
of the Paschal Lamb that God had required and God had provided. On the Day of Atonement, once
a year, Aaron went in behind the veil. And he went in there
to perform the sacred ordinance of atonement by which he portrayed
the sin-atoning death of our Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary
as our substitute. It's described in great detail
in Leviticus 16. All of this may seem strange
to us. Many look at these things and
say, well, that has no meaning for us today. What a tragic mistake. What is the meaning? What was
the meaning of these ordinances? Look at the next thing, verses
eight, nine, and 10. In these three verses, the Holy
Ghost tells us that these divinely ordained ordinances signified
the necessity of Christ's accomplishments at Calvary. Verse eight, the
Holy Ghost this signified. That is, this is what these things
were designed to perform. The Holy Ghost, this signified
that the way into the holiest was not yet made manifest. Every time that priest went in
there, once a year, He knew he's got to go back in again, because
the way into the holiest, not this physical earthly holiness,
this physical earthly holy place, not that, but into the holy place
that that represented, the way for sinners to enter into God's
presence, the way of access to God was not yet manifest, while
the first tabernacle was yet standing. which was a figure,
just a type, a representative, a picture for the time then present
in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, now watch this,
that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining
to the conscience. He'd go in there and sprinkle
the blood and he still got a conscience guilty. He goes back in the next
year, sprinkles the blood, and he's still got a conscience,
guilty. He goes in the next year, throughout the days of his life,
that priest dies, God raises up another, and that priest goes
in, and he comes out still guilty. The sacrifice sprinkled on a
material altar could never purge sin or make the guilty conscience
free. It was just a figure of these
things, verse 10, which stood only in meats and drinks and
divers washings and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time
of reformation, the time when Christ would come and change
everything. Now, here are four things specifically
taught in these three verses. This is what the Old Testament
law signified. The way into the presence of
God, which is Christ, Hebrews chapter 10, was not clearly revealed. It was not actually manifested
while the first tabernacle stood. As long as these pictures stood,
Christ had not come. Long as the type stood Christ
had not come I do not mean by that that the Old Testament Saints
did not understand what they meant I'm fully convinced they
did but Christ was not fully revealed. He was not yet manifest
in the flesh until Christ came the sacrifices had to continue
second in verse 9 The first tabernacle, I repeat and emphasize, was only
a symbol, a picture for the time then present typifying the work
of our Lord Jesus Christ. They had no other purpose. Remember the children of Israel
when they were bitten with fiery serpents God commanded Moses
to make a serpent of brass and hold it up And he said to anyone
who looks to that serpent of brass will be healed and as they
looked they were healed But the children of Israel did a foolish
thing the kind of foolish thing men always do they kept it And
they kept it, and they kept it. All the days of Moses and Aaron,
all the days of Samuel and David, all the days of Solomon, they
kept it. Until you get over to 2 Kings
18, and the king came and said, this is a worthless piece of
brass. They burned incense to that thing.
They made it a holy thing that somehow connected them to God. Oh, God, keep us from that idolatry. Keep us from that idolatry. We all, by nature, want something
to connect us to God. Something visible, something
we can touch. That's the reason religious trinkets
are so highly valued by men. do away with them. Do away with
them. Every cross, every picture of
Christ, every representation of angels, everything of that
kind, do away with it. Because those things we naturally
look at as giving us a connection with God. They're absolutely
idolatrous. These Old Testament instruments
of worship, these carnal ordinances, were only symbols of Him who
was to come. They did not in any way make
anybody any better or bring anybody closer to God. I appreciate respecting things.
I don't know what I'd do if I had to contend with fellas coming
in here wearing a hat and refuse to take it off. I just believe
I'd just ask them to take it off. Of course, I would do that
if you walked in my house. But it's just what men do when
they come inside. But we walk into a church building
and somehow think this is holy. This gives us a close connection
to God. Oh no, oh no. If God should make
it necessary for us, and I would to God he would, we had to move
out of this, build a bigger building. I wouldn't care if they used
it for a tobacco barn or a hog farm. It's just a building, it's
just a building. So we'll preach everybody knows
that. No they don't, no they don't. I happen to know people
who have kept slivers from the old altar in the church where
Mama and Daddy went. Had known folks who kept pieces
I'm talking about pieces of wood from church builders where mom
and daddy went when it changed because this is something this
is something Spiritual and significant. No, this is just wood Brick and
mortar nothing else. We worship God in the spirit
and these things were made and reminding us constantly that
sacrifices of a carnal nature, worship of a carnal nature, cannot
put away sin and cannot purify the conscience. Christ alone
can do that. One more thing. These ceremonies
were imposed upon the children of Israel only for a time until
the coming of Christ. We observe the Lord's table,
but we do not keep the Passover. We observe baptism, but we do
not observe any of the day-by-day sprinklings and cleansing of
the Jews. Not the washing of our hands,
not the cleansing of various instruments, nothing of the kind.
We keep these ordinances in remembrance of Christ because he commanded
that we do so. But we observe no physical carnal
ordinances, observe no law by which we hope to draw near to
God. Look at verses 11 through 14 Here the Spirit of God tells
us that Christ our high priest our sin atoning substitute by
the sacrifice of himself has actually obtained eternal redemption
for God's elect By the merit and efficacy of his blood, he
actually obtained eternal redemption for us. But Christ, being come
an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
of this building, not of this physical material building, Neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered
in once, he entered in one time into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. having obtained eternal redemption
for us. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean,
sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh. That is Paul's making
an argument now. If those Old Testament ceremonies
gave a ceremonial sanctification so that men would be themselves
sanctified by the various purifications of the Old Testament. And the
furnishings and the tabernacle and the altar all were ceremonially
sanctified so that they were set apart for God and accepted
of God. Read the next line. How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God, do what all those carnal things could never do,
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. In verses 11 and 12, we see the
efficacy of our blessed Savior's blood. Jesus Christ, by the sacrifice
of himself, actually obtained eternal redemption for us. When
the appointed time came, Christ, our great high priest of good
things to come, that is of righteousness and peace, reconciliation, grace,
and mercy, came in the body prepared for him by God the Holy Ghost. He tabernacled among men in him. God comes to men and men come
to God. He is our representative, our
righteousness and our redemption. He was numbered with the transgressors
and he died under the penalty of our sins bearing the sin of
many. Our great high priest, As he
entered in once into the presence of God, the true holy place,
made full atonement for our sins, and through this one offering,
he perfected forever all who are sanctified and obtained eternal
redemption for us, perfecting us before God. Now, you and I,
in Him, with Him, being one with Him, are made priest unto God,
and we come to God with our lives, we come to God with our obedience,
we come to God with our faith, we come to God bringing these
things to Him through His Son. I'm talking about the totality
of our lives. our faith, our obedience to Him,
everything. Not just coming here to the worship
services, not just giving, not just making sacrifices, not just
witnessing or preaching. Jerry, the totality of our lives
we bring to God. And God accepts now our works
as He accepts Christ Jesus the Lord, for He has made us perfect
in Him. Not only is his blood efficacious
with God, his blood is efficacious with us, so that we now draw
near to God with full assurance of faith. our consciences being
purged from dead works. Look at verse 13. For if the
blood of goats and calves, or bulls and goats, and the ashes
of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctify to the purifying
of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Now there
are a lot of folks who try to make dead works to be one thing,
some things another. This is what it's talking about.
Dead works, all those things by which we had tried to approach
God before. Those obedient to the law, sacrifices,
resolutions, repentances, dead works. Works without faith. When God looks on the blood,
God says that's enough. And when I look on the blood,
my conscience says that's enough. I don't know how to adequately
say this, what Paul has written to us in this 14th verse. I well
recall trying to find a way to God. trying to find a way to
believe God, trying to do something to make myself acceptable with
God. Under the terror of law, fearful
of judgment, terrified of hell, conscious in some measure of
sin, always conscious of sin. I tried to read my Bible more
and pray more and do better and go to church and nothing was
sufficient. And one day, the Spirit of God
sprinkled my conscience with the blood of Christ. How did
he do that? He gave me faith in his Son. Faith in Christ, the gift of
God the Holy Ghost is the sprinkling of the conscience. And I came
to God, because that's enough. I don't need anything else. I
don't require anything else. God doesn't require anything
else. He won't accept anything else except the blood of his
son. And we come to God through faith
in Christ, trusting his covenant blood, just as confidently as
Aaron went into the Holy of Holies with the blood of the Paschal
Lamb, sprinkling it on the mercy seat. You know, Aaron must have
been terrified. Why? Merle, he was doing exactly what
God required him to do. Reverent, yes. Terrified, no.
Godly fear, yes. Terror of God, no. We come to
God boldly with freedom. freedom of access, calling God
our Father through the blood of his Son. Now we can't do any
more than just read verses 15 through 23, but here the Spirit
of God tells us that the precious blood of Christ is the blood
by which covenant grace comes to chosen sinners. The saints
of God throughout the Old Testament understood and believed, that
is, believing they understood these things. They trusted Christ
just as we do. Verse 15, for this cause he is
the mediator of the new covenant, that by means of death for the
redemption of transgressions that were under the First Testament,
they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. God can't come to sinners any
other way, and sinners can't come to God any other way, but
by Christ's sin-atoning blood. Verse 16. For where a testament
is, and this word testament's the same as covenant, it's the
very same word translated covenant, but our translators accurately
use the word testament here. Because as we receive it, as
we experience it, as we enjoy the benefits of it, it is not
agreement maintained between us and God that were done between
Christ and our Father by our mediator. But we receive all
the blessings of the covenant by faith in Christ as a testament. A testament. A last will and
testament. Sometime ago many many years
ago Someone I hardly even knew out in California fairly young
man died and he named me in his will and matter of fact I knew
him so slightly that I had to go to my records and look up
his name Remember who it was and he he left me $5,000 in his
will you know what I did to get it Nothing. I just got a check
and I just got a check, fella left me $5,000 in his will. Just a free testament gift. That's what God's salvation is
in Christ. Read on. For a testament is a
force after men are dead. Otherwise it is of no strength
at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament
was dedicated without blood, for when Moses had spoken every
precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood
of calves and of goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and
sprinkled both the book and all the people saying, this is the
blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover,
he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels
of the ministry and almost all things are by the law purged
with blood and without shedding of blood is no remission. Thank
God for a better sacrifice. It was therefore necessary that
the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with
these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices
than these. Why did the Spirit of God here
refer to our Lord Jesus' sacrifice in the plural as sacrifices? It may be because the Jews commonly
in ancient times used the plural simply to emphasize the best
or the highest regard for something. I think rather it's because our
Savior, when he offered up himself as one sacrifice to God at one
time, offered to God his Godhead and his humanity. his obedience,
and his blood, his body, his soul, his spirit. All that God
demanded. he sacrificed. All that we needed,
he sacrificed. All that we lost in our father
Adam, he obtained in redemption when he died at Calvary in our
stead. Amen. All right. Thank you for
your attention.