Open your Bibles with me to Exodus,
the 24th chapter. God has brought the children
of Israel out of the bondage they were in, in Egypt, and He's
done it with a mighty arm. And He has brought them to the
valley of Mount Sinai. And from that mount, He has spoken
unto them through thunderings and lightning and earthquake, the words of His law, the law
that He is going to deliver to the children of Israel. through His chosen servant, Moses. In fact, He's cutting a covenant,
a special covenant with Moses. We know it as the Mosaic Covenant. And it's at this juncture that
God declares unto Moses, verse 1, chapter 24. And he said unto
Moses, Come up unto the Lord, unto Jehovah, thou and Aaron,
Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy and seventy of the elders of
Israel, and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come near,
literally, to the Lord, to Jehovah. But they shall not come near,
neither shall the people go up with him. And Moses came and told the people
all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments, and all the
people answered with one voice. and said, All the words which
the LORD hath said will we do. And Moses wrote all the words
of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and built an
altar under the hill, under Mount Sinai, and twelve pillars, according
to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the
children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings and sacrificed
peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood
and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on
the altar. And he took the book of the covenant,
and read in all the audience of the people, and they said,
All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood and
sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold, the blood of the
covenant, which the Lord hath made, or literally hath cut with
you concerning all these words. Then went up Moses, and Aaron,
Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and
they saw the God of Israel. And they saw the God of Israel,
and there was under His feet, as it were, a paved work of a
sapphire stone, and as it were, the body of heaven in His clearness."
Or literally just in clearness. And upon the nobles of the children
of Israel he laid not his hand. Also they saw God, and did eat
and drink. An amazing experience. And the
Lord said unto Moses, Come up to Me and to the mount, and be
there, and I will give thee tables of stone, and law, and commandments
which I have written, that thou mayest teach them. And Moses rose up, and his minister
Joshua, and Moses went up into the mount of God, and he said
unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto
you. And behold, Aaron and her, are
with you. If any man have any matters to
do, let him come unto them." And Moses went up into the mount. And a cloud covered the mount.
And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai. And the cloud
covered it six days. And the seventh day he called
unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the
glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount
in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the
midst of the cloud and got him up into the mount. And Moses
was in the mount forty days. and 49. Now turn with me, if
you will, to Hebrews chapter 9 and follow along in your reading
with me as we focus upon the latter part of this chapter.
Verses 21 through 28 are going to be the focus this morning,
but I want to begin reading at verse 18, which says, the Holy Spirit has
written this to inform us, and from here the Word says, whereupon
neither the first Testament or first covenant 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 itself and all the people, saying, This
is the blood of the covenant which God hath enjoined unto
you. Verse 21. Moreover, He sprinkled
likewise 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. It was therefore necessary, it
was therefore necessary literally indeed that the patterns of things
in the heavens should be purified with these. but the heavenly
things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ
is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which
are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to
appear, literally to be manifested in the presence of God for us. nor yet that he should offer
himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place
every year with blood of others. For then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world. But now, once in the end of the
world, hath he appeared, or hath he been manifested, to put away
sin, by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for Him
shall He appear, the second time, without sin, unto salvation. May the Lord bless the reading
of His Word. Where we left off last time,
last week, was verse 20 of Hebrews 9, and it was with Moses the
fallen human mediator of the old covenant, sprinkling with
the blood of animal sacrifices both the book that God instructed
him to write and all the people of the family of Israel. And even so, do we now come to
the last eight verses of Hebrews chapter 9. The Mosaic Covenant is a type
in time of the everlasting covenant. The temporary Mosaic Covenant
declares the eternal covenant with all of its types and shadows.
In fact, where unregenerate believers are concerned who do not have
blessed by grace eyes, enabling them to see through the temporary
types and shadows, the eternal reality of the presence and power
specifically of the Christ of the new covenant, they remain
in darkness, blind to this saving truth. And believe me, They existed
even among the company, even among the family of the children
of Israel. And what a sad awakening they
will inevitably experience. What a terrible reckoning awaits
them if this spiritual blindness persists. It was true in the
time of Moses, and it's true even today. Turn with me, if you will, in
your Bibles to the fifth chapter of John. Jesus spoke of his absolute sovereignty
over life and death when he said from John 5, verses 28 and 29,
he said, marvel not at this, for the hour is coming. in the which all that are in
the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth, they that
have done good unto the resurrection of life." Now, by virtue of the word that
is used in the original for the word done in this statement of
Christ, He is in essence telling us that these that have done
good by a new nature, having been graciously imparted unto
them, that is ruling their thoughts and intentions and motives. And then he says, and they that
have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. And the word that
Jesus uses for done here is not the same kind of a word as the
previous phrase. This simply means all those that
have habitually practiced evil all of their earthly days, they'll experience a resurrection unto damnation. And then he says in his closing
remarks to the Jews who he's talking with throughout this
chapter, down in verses 45 through 47, Jesus says an amazing and
extraordinary thing. He says, do not think that I
will accuse you to the Father. Then he says, there is one that
accuseth you." And the word even is interjected
by the translators. Jesus just simply said His name. There is one that accuseth you,
Moses, in whom ye trust. And this prepositional phrase,
in whom ye trust, is one that uses the word that means literally,
it's an active preposition, it means into whom ye trust. They put their faith into Moses.
They put their life into Moses. They put their walk into Moses. And Moses is the one that's going
to accuse them. It's an extraordinary statement
that Christ makes here. Then Jesus says, for had ye believed
Moses, ye would have believed me. Why? Because, as Jesus says, for he
wrote, literally, concerning me. But if you believe not his writings,
how shall ye believe my words? Dear ones, what Jesus is saying
here, in truth, is the writings of Moses, what we already know,
were Christ's words. What Jesus is referring to is
the law of the Lord that is constantly being declared through the types
and shadows of the law of Moses. The types and shadows as seen
through the tabernacle. The types and shadows that are
seen in the work of ministry that continually went on there
by the Levite priesthood. The types and shadows of all
the ceremonial sacrifices and rituals that they had to perform
according to the law of Moses. They are the things in which
are found the pure truth and the precise representation of
all that reveals the promised and prophesied One who would
come and be the obedient bond slave of God the Father and the
sovereign Savior substitute of all His elect. If you're still in the Gospel
of John, turn over to the 8th chapter and look with me at verses
28 and 29 of John chapter 8. Jesus is speaking here of His
actual historical presence in this fallen world. And unto the
unbelieving Jews He says, When you have lifted up the Son of
Man, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, Meaning, when
you have in this world crucified the eternal Son of Man, then
shall ye know that I am." That's where the sentence of his words
closed. He intentionally stopped. The translators interjected the
word he, that I am he. Then shall you learn that I am
the One who is the fulfillment of God's promise given in the
Garden of Eden." And then Jesus goes on and He
says, "...and that I do nothing of Myself." And He uses the same
word that describes all those who will be resurrected unto
everlasting life because they'll be judge for the things they
have done by nature. A word that takes in thoughts,
intentions, and motives behind the action performed. And Jesus
uses this same word for do, and He says, I do nothing of myself. My thoughts, my intentions, my
motives are governed, are ruled by The father, but as my father
hath taught me, he goes on to say, I speak these things. Nothing came out of his mouth
that the father had instructed to come out of his mouth. Verse 29, "...and He that sent
me is with me. The Father hath not left me alone,
for I do always those things that please Him." That is, He
always obediently accomplishes exactly what His Father has commanded
Him to say and do. In other words, Christ Jesus,
The eternal Son of Man, always, perfectly, from eternity, in
eternity, for eternity, does the law of the Lord in His speech,
in His actions, in His whole being. And that this is the declaration
of the epistle of Hebrews is obvious. Turn back over there
with me now, and let's take a look at Hebrews 9, 21 through 28. Remember verses 19 and 20, which
sets up, we had to stop last week, and I stopped kind of right,
I cut off right at the beginning of another section, and if we
pick up from just 21, We need to have some connection. Verses
19 and 20 say, For when Moses had spoken every precept to all
the people according to the law that the Lord had spoken from
the mountain to Moses, and he related to them, he wrote it
down. He took the blood of calves and
of goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop. We talked about
that last week. what all these things are types
and shadows of, the power that's in only the blood of Christ.
And He sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This
is the blood of the covenant which God hath enjoined, hath
commanded unto you. And then we come to verses 21 and
22, which from the original would literally be read this way. and the tabernacle too, and all
the vessels of the ministration." Remember, it's still speaking
in context of Moses catching the blood in basins and taking
of that blood and sprinkling all these things. He sprinkled
the book of the covenant that he had written in. He sprinkled
the people. And then he went into the tabernacle,
and he sprinkled the tabernacle, and all the vessels of ministration,
all the vessels of public ministry, in like manner, he sprinkled
with blood, it says. And verse 22 would read, And
almost all things with blood are purified according to the
law, and apart from bloodshedding there is no remission. These
two verses, as an historical statement of truth concerning
that which God commanded Moses to do at this juncture in the
history of redemption and the history of fallen humanity, as
the representation of the power of the blood of the eternal Lamb
of God to be able to cleanse and to purify everything that
fallen and sinful man has tainted and marred with just His presence,
with just His officiating, that especially concerns where he
comes to worship the Holy Lord God. This tabernacle was a special
place. God's presence made it a special
place. And these two verses serve to
set the stage for the declaration of the real and eternal redemptive
remission that is an actual part of the eternal new covenant. Dear ones, it's all about the
power of the sacrificial blood of the promise provision of who
is at this particular historical point in time Moses' day yet
to be revealed as being the eternal Lamb of God, whose shed blood
alone can eternally cleanse and purify whatever the uncleanness
of fallen but elect mankind has touched and stained in this fallen
world. Let me just remind you of what
our Scripture reading was last week. You don't have to turn
to Leviticus 16 unless you want to, but I want to remind you
of how often it continually refers to the work of atonement. Verse 16 of this chapter says,
"...and he shall make an atonement for the holy place." because of the uncleanness of
the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions and all
their sins. This included the Levite priesthood. This included all the family
of Israel, even the ones appointed by God to officiate in the services
that had to continually, every single day, be fulfilled, be accomplished
in the tabernacle. The tabernacle itself, the holy
place, had to be included under the atonement. We forget how
awful sin is and what an awful state we're in. We can be the
best citizen in the country and it would make
no difference. We're still sinners and are not worthy of eternal
salvation, not worthy to go to heaven. And this verse says, "...so shall
he do for the tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth among
them in the midst of their uncleanness." And again in verse 19, "...he
shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his fingers seven times,
and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children
of Israel." And verse 30, "...for on that
day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse
you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord."
Verse 33, "...and He shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary,
and He shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation,
and for the altar. He shall make an atonement for
the priests, and for all the people of the congregation." Why is God such a stickler in
His law through Moses that all these things be done that way?
The law of Moses does one thing and one thing well. By it, we
have the full knowledge of our sinfulness. It provides no effective
means of redemption. When it comes to redemption,
eternal redemption, the law of Moses is worthless. It's weak and worthless. For behold, that which Hebrews
9.23 goes on to dogmatically declare. It says, it was therefore
necessary indeed that the patterns, a word that means similitudes,
the copies of things in the heavens, the end time copies, types of
the realities of things in eternity, in the eternal holy presence
of the Most High God. It was necessary that these patterns
of things in the heavens should be purified with these animal
sacrifices, which are also types of the sacrificial death and
sacrificial blood of Christ. Because it goes on to say in
the last phrase of verse 23, but the heavenly things themselves
with better sacrifices than these. And this is why Hebrews 9.24
is written to explain to us, "...for Christ is not entered
into the holy places, made with hands..." Take out which are the. Those
words are interjected by the translators. "...made with hands,
figures of the true, but into heaven itself now." A time reference. Now, while we sit here, He is
there now. He has gone into heaven itself
and He's there now to appear in the presence of God for us. Amen. Amen, brother. From the original, this verse
would read this way. for not into made-by-hands holies
entered the Christ, figures of the true, but into heaven itself."
Now, and I stress again, this word now is a time reference.
What this is really a reference to, this time reference, is a
reference to what this little mark right here on this chart
represents. That represents the ascension. We don't talk enough about that.
That's a historical event in time. When Jesus' feet left the
ground and the Father took Him, brought Him to Himself and sat
Him at His right hand. Having purged our sins, sat down. That's where the mercy seat really
is, beloved. It's not just the lid covered
with gold on top of an ark. We don't have the ark anymore.
The Lord took that object lesson right off the table. So we wouldn't
be looking at that. Faith sees that which is not
seen. The place where God and us are
met through the blood of Christ. The ascension of Christ is also
an historical event upon the timeline of fallen humanity.
And the ascension of Christ is when Christ went back to appear
literally before, and this is what's communicated from the
text when it says, to appear in the presence of God for us,
it means literally to appear before the face of God, of holy
God for us. And those two words for us are
actually in the original. If you look back in your Bibles
at verse 12, where it speaks of the blood of Christ being
carried once for all into the holy place in heaven, having
obtained eternal redemption, and the translators interjected,
for us. And the reason why they put those
two words there is because verse 24 dogmatically declares, He
has gone there before the face of God for us. He's there right
now. Now that which is stressed first
of all from this text is the fact of where it is that we need
real atonement to be made for our lost and sinful souls in
order for us to be eternally saved. It is not some so-called
holy place that's here, constructed and manufactured in time by fallen
and sinful man. It's there in eternity. And from For this verse tells
us in no uncertain terms that such places as these are, that
are here, at their very and most legitimate best, are called nothing
but figures, corresponding representative counterparts of that which is
eternally true and actual, where we really need the atonement
to be applied. I don't know what I was expecting
before I was regenerated, but it's precisely on this subject
I didn't feel forgiven. When you're still walking according
to carnality, which you naturally do, When you're unregenerate,
especially, you can't help it. You just are saturated with nothing
but carnal thoughts. I don't care how religious you
are or how many Bible schools you've been to or how educated
in Bible subjects you are. When you are unregenerate, you
are reeking of carnality. And I didn't feel forgiven. I
was being honest. I didn't feel Christ had forgiven
me. And when it was shown to me from
the scriptures and communicated to me convincingly, no argument
could be prevail against the truth that
Jesus didn't die for every single person ever been born in the
history of fallen humanity. He died for those he intended
to save. I said, well, that explains it. That explains it. And when Steve
says, what do you mean? I said, well, that's why I don't
feel forgiven. Jesus didn't die for me. And it really didn't help my
situation any, but it made sense suddenly. Made foreboding sense. Faith is a grace. It was shortly after that, a
matter of days, that the Holy Spirit closed in
my heart. The Spirit of the Lord Jesus
Christ closed in my heart. through Colossians 2, 9 and 10.
For in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye
are complete in Him. I still get tingly when I say
that verse, that phrase, I am complete in Christ. And that personal revelatory
experience can be spawned from many other
places from the pages of this book. For in here are the words
of eternal life. The personification of this book
is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word, the living Word of God. And the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us, John says, and we beheld His glory, the glories
of the only begotten of the Father. full of grace, full of truth. The eternal Christ of God did
not enter and therefore is not entered into some fallen and
therefore tainted facsimile of that which is holy and true,
but He is entered into holy heaven itself before the face of holy
God Himself and into all of His holy glory. into which He, as
the Son of God, the Christ of God, the Lamb of God, has free
and immediate access. He always has, and He always
does. In fact, He is never not in the
immediate presence of holy, holy, holy God. Think about that. That's what Jesus said. The Father
is with me. He has not left me alone. You
know what that means? He is never not there before
holy God's all-glorious face for you, for us. Praise His holy person and being. Plus, this representation for
all those who are included in the for us, is being made by He who is also
known as being the Eternal Son of Man. And it is by virtue of this eternal
reality that the Son of God is also the Son of Man, legitimately
the Son of Man. He was born of a woman in the
fullness of time. God sent His Son to be born of
a woman, born under the law of Moses, to be revealed as the
Redeemer, the only Redeemer that there ever was, is, or ever will
be. for the sins of His people. And it is by virtue of this eternal
reality that is what cancels out the necessity of the Mosaic
Covenant with its law that can only serve to judge us and condemn
us for being nothing but imperfect before holy God. Christ mediates for us a new
eternal covenant with holy God. He mediates for us this covenant. The covenant is cut between Him
and His Father on our behalf, but not with us. The covenant
that God cut through Moses with the children of Israel. failed because the children of
Israel failed to perfectly live up to obedience to the law of
that covenant. But it was all to be an object
lesson. Christ mediates for us a new
eternal covenant with holy God that is governed according to
a different but an all-inclusive law. That's the law the law of demanded perfection
that was put on the Lord Jesus Christ's shoulders, that He obediently
fulfilled and perfectly accomplished as the sovereign Savior substitute
of all those chose to be saved. Therefore, does Hebrews 9 verses
25 and 26 unfold. And I believe that these verses
are given to unfold before our understandings and to purify
our understandings that which these verses declare. It is written,
verse 25, nor yet that he should offer himself often. This is what the original tells
us. "...nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high
priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood
of others." Verse 26, "...for then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world, But now, once in the end of the
world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself." Once again, for the sake of the
constant quest we should be on for clarity from the original,
these two verses should read this way. nor that often he should
offer himself as the high priest enters into the holies year by
year with another's blood. Since it was necessary for him
often, or literally since, must he often to have suffered from
the foundation of the world. You remember our little study,
I preached a whole sermon on the word that is translated into
our English as must. And we looked at it from the
standpoint of where it's used in the New Testament, neither
is there salvation in any other, for there's none other name given
among men, under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. What is that saying? The unregenerate believers have
stumbled over it and took that to mean why we must do something. We must fulfill some prescription.
We must accept Jesus Christ. We must accept Him into our hearts
in order to be saved. That's not what that is connected
to at all. It's a word that means literally to be bound up with.
And what it's connected to is the name of Christ. And the name of Christ is defined
definitively as the person and work of Christ. And what Peter's
declaring there in the face of the healing of this lame man,
and they're being dragged before the Sanhedrin because of it and
thrown in jail, and his testimony is, neither is there salvation
in any other. For there's none other name,
no other person and work, no other person and work and accomplishment
under heaven, given among men, divinely wrapped up and bound
to our salvation. That's what that word must. It's
unavoidable. And it's used in this context
to tell us on the flip side of that, Christ didn't enter into
the holies like the priests of the Mosaic covenant, which had
to go in year by year with the blood of others. If the covenant that Christ has
mediated for us is just like the Mosaic covenant, that means
that Christ has had to suffer and suffer and suffer and suffer
and suffer from the foundation of the world. He doesn't have to do that. He
only had to go in there once. That's all that was enough. Because
He's perfect. Because He's eternal. Because
it's all wrapped up, up here. This is where it's all done,
beloved. You can't undo it, and you can't
add to it. You can only rejoice in it. And
the news that I'm telling you should be the grandest news you've
ever heard. That's evangelism. It's an announcement
of the truth. of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Literally, verse 26 ends with,
but now, once for all, in the consummation of the ages. That's
what comes through the literal translation. In the end of the
world. In the consummation of the ages, for the purpose of
putting away sin by His sacrifice, He has been manifested. He has been revealed. These two verses emphasize for
us that it indeed is truly all about the holy power that is
resonant in the blood of the incarnate, eternal Son and Lamb
of God. Revelation 13a declares that
He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And here we see that He is as
the eternal Son of God and as the eternal High Priest for all
of God's elect, that for Him it is not necessary that He have
to enter the holy presence of God for us more than once for
us all. and once for all time." Why? Why is it that way? Because
he is not going before the holy face of God with the substitute
sacrificial blood of another, but with his own holy and all-powerful
sacrificial blood. Christ's blood is scripturally
declared to be eternally precious. Turn with me to 1 Peter chapter
1. Let's look at that where the Word of God declares how precious
the blood is. Peter in his own right, that
crass fisherman under the influence and inspiration of the Holy Spirit
could be very eloquent. In verses 18 and 19 of the first
chapter of 1 Peter, Peter writes, for as much as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation, vain way of life, received by tradition
from your fathers. There's that tie to the Mosaic
covenant. Look at verse 19, but with the
precious blood of Christ. as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot." Look at verse 20, "...who verily, who truly,
was ordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest,
was revealed in these last times for you who by Him do believe
in God, that raised Him up from the dead and gave Him glory."
that your faith and hope might be in God." What a wonderful
set of verses these truly are. But I want to show you something. God regards the blood of Christ
as precious. Turn over to 2 Peter and look
at the very first verse. of this letter, the last writing
of this great apostle. Simon Peter, it says, literally
a bond slave and an apostle of Jesus Christ. To them that have
obtained, look what it says about the faith of those to whom he
writes. to them that have obtained, and
that literally means obtained by lot, the lot is cast in the
lap and the answer is from the Lord, the book of Proverbs says,
the Lord God knows whom he's gonna give this grace to, who
he's gonna bestow it upon, gonna pour out the grace of faith on
all his children, all his elect, the foundation of God stands
firm, having this for a seal, the Lord knows those that are
his, these are the ones that have obtained, like precious,
like precious faith. The same adjective that God attaches
to the blood of His Son is attached to the faith of the elect. Why? Flip back to Romans chapter 3
and look at verse 25. Romans chapter 3 And verse 25, speaking of Christ
and what God the Father has done with His Son. Verse 25 says,
Whom, that's Christ, God, that's the Father, hath set forth to
be a propitiation. We've talked about that word.
That points to Him being a substitute. How do you stand approved before
God? In Jesus Christ. He's won God's approval for you. By His obedience. The Father, God the Great Triumvirate,
Father, Son, and Spirit are going to be able to maintain the integrity
of their justice and their wrath, which is also holy, by the way.
His justice is holy. His wrath is holy. His anger
is holy. And against sinners that are
not regenerated, His anger is holy. And He maintains the integrity through His Son. That's why you
don't suffer wrath. His Son has borne the wrath. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. whom God has set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in His blood. Precious faith
in His precious blood. And His blood is so powerful,
it and only it can cleanse us and purify us and eternally put
away our sins. Put away our sins. This word
from the original that is used here for the expression put away
is the same as that which was used in Hebrews 7.18, when it
speaks there of the impact that is made when Christ came as an
eternal and perfect High Priest. The 18th verse of the 7th chapter
of Hebrews says there is a veritable disannulling or canceling out
of the commandment. He canceled out the commandment
of the law of Moses. And why is this so? He says,
because for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. It's
worthless. It doesn't redeem. There's no
salvation through the law of Moses. May I remind you of Romans 8,
2 and 3. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus, that's the law of the Lord, hath made
me free from the law of sin and death, that's the law of Moses.
For what the law could not do, that's the law of Moses, in that
it was weak through the flesh. God sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the
flesh. Because His Son came and fulfilled perfectly the law of
the Lord. That makes Him the Lord of Lords. Mosaic Covenant Law was, according
to Hebrews 7.16, the law of a carnal commandment. You hear that? That's what the Word says. The
law of a carnal commandment. revealing innate and damning
carnality and all of those who live under it, and all of those
who revere it, and all of those who worship it, and try to follow
it in order to please God, and thereby gain an entrance into
heaven from God. That's a complete effort in futility. The whole covenant associated
with Just such a law as this had to be completely cancelled
out or we couldn't be saved. This is what Christ has eternally
done with the revelation of the everlasting covenant, the new
covenant, the covenant that is kept and maintained according
to the law of the Lord. the law that reveals the commands
and tasks that needed to be obeyed and completely, perfectly fulfilled
by the eternal Son of God, who was sent into this fallen world
as the provision of a sovereign Savior substitute for all those
who, before the foundation of the world, were chosen and positioned
in Him, making them to be eternally saved. Why are you eternally saved?
Why am I eternally saved? Because you are in Christ and
you've been put there before the world began. That's what it means to be eternally
saved. It's not from some wise decision
you've made, how you handle that knowledge of Jesus Christ. and this make-believe gospel
that centers around Him, that has been proclaimed in this country. I tell you, this false gospel
is the reason for the severe judgment that God is bringing
to fruition upon our land. Even so has the person and work
of Christ put away or completely canceled out all our sins, all
our transgressions, all our trespasses, and all our iniquities. And it's
all to the praise and the glory of His great grace. That which
these verses from Hebrews 7 and 9 declare become echoes of that
which the Apostle Paul was Holy Spirit inspired to write to the
Colossians, from Colossians 2, verses 13 and 14, where He tells
the Colossians, and you being dead in your sins, being dead
in sins actually, and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you,
or literally having forgiven us, from the original, all trespasses,
blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us. That's the Mosaic Law, which was contrary to us. or which
was over against us, which was adverse to us, and took it out
of the way, or literally out of the midst of us. It's nowhere
to be found near us. Nailing it to His cross. You see, the perfect High Priest,
the perfect Son of Man, the perfect Lamb of God was the Ten Commandments in complete
and total fulfillment, and more. The Mosaic Law is said in Romans
3, 21, to be one of the witnesses of the law that is revealed,
apart from the righteousness, rather, that is revealed apart
from the law. The law and the prophets are
witnesses. that such a phenomena actually
exists. A righteousness of God apart
from the law. The only way that man could even
understand the righteousness of God is he received the law
like Paul did, and then he lived it perfectly, which no one has been able to
do. That's why that law brings us
the full knowledge of our sin. Yes, dear ones, it's all about
the almighty eternal power of the blood that was shed by the
eternal Lamb of God to eternally redeem our immortal souls. And then this brings us to the
final two verses of Hebrews 9, verses 27 and 28. which say,
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for Him
shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." The message of these two verses
hasn't been, but should definitely be regarded and meditated upon
together. I remember as a young boy memorizing
Hebrews 9.27. For years I didn't know what
verse 28 even said. And as it is pointed unto me,
I want to die, but after this the judgment. Verse 28 puts the whole message
together. So Christ, once offered to bear
the sins of many. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. From the original, these two
verses would read this way. Listen carefully. And for as
much as it is apportioned to men once to die, And after this,
judgment, judgment. And after this, judgment, judgment. Thus the Christ, verse
28 says, Thus the Christ, verse 28 says, once, having been offered, it's a verbal participial phrase,
having been offered, for the bearing of the sins of
many. A second time shall appear, or
literally shall come to be gazed upon with wide open eyes as something
remarkable by all those that await Him apart from sin for
salvation. Now, verse 27, in essence, declares
the sovereignty of our Lord simply by the way that it actually describes
death among the constituency of fallen humanity. Death is
precisely and personally apportioned unto each one of us. Wherever there's a place in the
Scriptures that just declares, quite simply, we will all live
until the day we die, it's here. Regardless of the ways or the
means or the wherefores or what happens, We all live until the
day we die because God's in control. And that's what his word says.
It's apportioned, delved out to each one of us individually. The ways and means of our death
being whatever they will be, our times are in his all governing
hands, Psalm 31, 15. And as inevitable as our death
is, so is our judgment. And who is our judge? 2 Corinthians
5.10 tells us. It reveals to us the answer to
this question. It says, "...for we must all
appear before the judgment seat of Christ." And we must appear, it says. We must appear. Or literally,
we must be rendered apparent who we are, who we really are. No secrets. Everything's laid
bare. Says that in Hebrews chapter
four, speaking of the word of God. Everything's naked and bare before
Him right now. That's the way it is between
us and with Him with whom we have to do. And we must appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, must be rendered apparent before the
judgment seat of Christ in order that we may receive that perfect
and precise judgment from God of which we have in this world
fulfilled the scriptural description of being. And it will be either
of a saved one, a redeemed one by Christ, or
a lost one. Oh yes, where our study of the
law of the Lord is going to progress is into the area of what they
used to call in Bible college, Christian ethics. How do those that are being saved live? How do they fill up their
time? that's going to all become involved
in this for our purposes right now. If what I've just revealed
to you, if what's been presented to you, if this fact of truth
should strike a fear of doubt in you, as to what kind of description
that you are presently fulfilling with your life in this world,
then take to heart what verse 28 describes. That's why you
need to look at and meditate on these verses together. It
says that Christ wants, having been offered, that verbal phrase,
it's all been done. It's an eros participle passive,
which means nothing to you but the grammar. speaks volumes. This refers to the eternal Christ
of God, the one and only promised Messiah, whom God promised would
be the divine seed, singular, that would come and be born of
the woman and triumph over the enmity of the serpent and all
of his evil seed, plural, bruising his heel in the process as he
crushes the serpent's head. This Christ, it says, once having
been offered, which answers to the unavoidable fact concerning
fallen man that he is appointed once to die. That's why you need
to read the two verses together. Understand them together. It's
a portion of the man that wants to die. Christ was once having
been offered. Having been offered. The offering's already taken
place. Your death is yet in your future because you're yet in
this age of sin and death. But your hope is already been
laid with a firm foundation. It literally says that Christ
once having been offered, which means that the blood offering
of who is the Christ is declared here as having already been accomplished,
as already been eternally done, whether in the past or the present
or the future, where the timeline of fallen humanity is concerned.
For Moses, it was yet in the future. For us, it's in the past. For the apostles, it was in the present. They witnessed
it. But it makes no difference when
it happened because of the grammar of the verb. It's already accomplished. It doesn't matter. Time doesn't
enter into that verb. It's just done. Praise God. And what was it done to do for
the bearing of the sins of many? Jesus, at the Passover, lifted
up the cup, says in Matthew 26, 28, For this is my blood of the
new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins. And then Hebrews 9.28 goes on
to say, "...a second time shall He appear, or shall He become
something for His saved ones to gaze upon with wide-open eyes
of wonder, amazement, and adoration? And this promise is given unto
all those that await His coming appearing. To them shall He appear
as being their eternal salvation." praise and glory unto His holy
name. Therefore, if indeed your faith can readily relate to and
embrace this eternal truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, then be
eternally assured that you are one of the many that is spoken
of here. May God bless this to the encouraging
comfort of your immortal and eternal souls.