Let's look at verses 1 through
8 tonight Exodus 24 and He that is the Lord said unto Moses come
up unto the Lord thou and Aaron Nadab and Abihu and 70 of the
elders of Israel and worship ye afar off and Moses alone shall
come near the Lord But they shall not come nigh neither shall the
people go up with him And Moses came and told the people all
the words of the Lord. It's always all of them, isn't
it? Whenever we see someone telling forth the words of the Lord,
it's always all of them. God said to Moses from the very
start, when he said, I've heard the cry of my people, I've come
down here to save them. You go tell them all the words
that I say unto you. And it's still all of them. And
when Paul preached, it was all of them. He said, I shunned not
to declare unto you the whole counsel of God. And that's worth
mentioning because religion loves to pick and choose, don't they?
Skip over the parts they don't like much. All the words of the
Lord and all the judgments, verse three, 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 and 12 pillars according to the 12 tribes of
Israel. And he sent young men of the
children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings. You think about
that. Moses got the word of the Lord,
his commandments and told them to the people. And the people
said, we'll do them. And what was Moses' reaction
to that? He offered sacrifice. He knew something, didn't he?
He knew something. And look at the rest of it. Peace
offerings of oxen unto the Lord, last part of verse five there.
And then verse six, 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 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. Now that word is a little bit
misleading in the, in the King James there. He didn't put it
in a watering can and sprinkle it. He splashed it. That word
is he splashed blood on them. He took hyssop and dipped it
and splashed blood on the people and said, behold, the blood of the covenant which
the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words, this has to
do with the law and the keeping of it. or lack thereof. And this is one of the simplest
and clearest, most graphic pictures of the gospel in all of God's
Word. You think about this with me.
Get this picture in your mind. These are the people of God,
in an earthly sense now, a chosen nation, picturing the spiritual
elect of God. Paul said they are not all Israel
which are of Israel, but these people picture all of God's spiritual
Israel. And Moses goes up into Sinai,
and he receives the law from the very mouth of God, in the
very hand of God, those ten commandments God wrote on stone. And Moses
wrote the rest of it down. We read it in our text. But from
the very mouth and hand of God, and he brings that law back,
and he reads it to the people. And remember now, this law is
not decoration for your living room. it's life and death. This law comes with consequences
one way or the other. Reward or punishment, blessing
or curse, life or death will be a function of whether this
law is honored and obeyed or not. So Moses reads God's law
to all the people of God and they reply Because this law demands
a response. This is not just idle information
merely offered for their perusal. These are divine conditions that
produce of necessity a reaction. And the people's response is
one of agreement, not rebellion. They didn't say, oh boy, that
doesn't sound good. We're not going to, that's too
hard. We're not going to even try,
or we don't like that. We're not going to do that. No. They didn't mumble and complain.
They didn't say, how in the world can we be expected to obey these
commandments? They said, no problem. And Moses said, well, great then.
Go and enjoy the blessing of God. No, he didn't. And this
is the gospel here. He splashed blood on them. Can
you think of a more simple and clear and beautiful picture of
the gospel? It reminds me of the table. It's
so simple, isn't it? Bread and wine. This is my body,
which I break for you. This is my blood, which I shed
for you. And here, this blood, did you
hear God's law? Yes, I understand God's law.
I'll keep it. blood splashed in your face,
all over you. If God said, this do and live,
and the people said, we will do it, then what's the blood
for? Can you imagine being there when
that happened? The very sight of blood is a disturbing thing,
isn't it? When one of your children, you
hear that cry, and you know it's not that cry That's a lie, basically. This is real. You know, they
have a cry that they just want something. But then you hear
that cry that can't be faked. And when you run and you find
out where they are, what's the first thing you're looking for?
Red. You know they're hurt bad if
it's bleeding, if there's blood. And that's alarming, isn't it?
We got to do something about that. We got to stop it. And
people talk about, well, you know, there's so much blood on
TV and things like that, that it's not, you know, people are
just desensitized to it. Not me. And I've seen a lot of
blood on TV. It still bothers me about you
to see blood, anybody's blood, any kind of blood. And here's
Moses dipping that hyssop, which is a big bushy plant. and just saturating that thing
in blood and splashing it on me if I'm there on this day. Splashing it on the one that
just said, I'll keep God's law. Turn to Matthew chapter 21. Moses
had been taught of God. He knew what the law was for. Matthew chapter 21 now listen
to this This little story our Lord tells
here Says something about us and obedience to God that it
would do us good to remember I believe verse 28 of Matthew
21 But what think ye a certain man had two sons and And he came
to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. That certain man is God. It's
himself, the Lord Jesus. This is God. And he's saying
to his son, to the one that he made, you go work in my vineyard. What did the Lord say to Adam
and Eve in the garden? Dress it and keep it. Go work
in my garden, in my vineyard, in my paradise. And he answered
and said, I will not. I will not. But afterward, he repented and
went. And he came to the second and
said, likewise. And he answered and said, all
right, I'm going. I'll go work in your vineyard, no problem.
I'll take care of it. Consider it taken care of. And
he didn't go. Whether of them twain, did the
will of his father. They say unto him the first.
And Jesus saith unto them, Verily, and now you listen to his response
now. They answered the question right. But you listen to what
he said to them. The publicans and harlots go
into the kingdom of God before you. Because you're these characters
that say, I'm doing God's will, I'll do it. The commandments,
I've kept these from my youth up. Really? And then you didn't. You're talking a good game, but
you can't back it up. You see who he's talking about?
He's talking about all of us by nature there. But there are
some who are born saying, I will not. I will not. And yet, They
repent. They repent. Now think about
this. The Pharisees here are representative of all men by
nature. We say, oh yeah, you know, we go to heaven when we
die. All we got to do is just keep the Ten Commandments. I'll
put them up on my wall and I'll make sure you know that I do
this. And of course, men figure out
a way to break them and then, you know, They'll go to the priest
or something like that or go rededicate their lives to Jesus.
And that's a reset. You know, I can start sinning
all over again until the next time I rededicate my life. But
the general argument is that I'll keep these. No problem.
I'll do it. I want to go to heaven when I die. We'll do whatever
is necessary. But then, somehow or another,
we figure We can get by with doing what we want instead of
what God demands and still be alright. We'll figure out a way
to justify our sin, to live with it. And so we'll say, I'll go,
and we don't. That's every son of Adam and
daughter of Adam by nature, every one of us. We honor him with our lips, he
said. He wasn't just talking to the
Pharisees that were there that day. He's talking to all of us
Pharisees, all self-righteous men and women by nature. You
draw nigh unto me with your lips, but your heart is far from me.
We say some words, perhaps repeat a prayer after some soul winner,
but when it comes right down to it, we're all about ourselves.
And we always will be until God does a work of grace on our hearts.
There may be a confession in the first case. There may be
a, you know, a record of, of going to church and reading my
Bible through every year and check, check, check, check. But
what there's not in the first one is repentance. But see here
in this same passage, those who are open rebels against God's
law and say right up front, I will not. I will not. The publicans and the harlots. No pretense. No pretense. Thou shalt honor the Lord thy
God. I will not. I will not. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not commit. I'll do what I want to do. But afterwards, sometime afterward. Repentance. Repentance. How does that happen? Some sinners
just found it in themselves to change. They found it in themselves,
all right. But it didn't come from in themselves.
Let me read you 2 Timothy 2.25 again. Very familiar. But listen to it. Paul said to
Timothy in 2nd Timothy 2.25, Timothy, in meekness, instruct
those that oppose themselves. If you hear God's will, God's
revealed will, and you say, I will not. I will not. You're not really opposing God,
you're opposing yourself, in effect, because you You're not
going to hurt God. You're not going to bother God
with that. You're not going to diminish God. You're not going
to rob him of his glory. What you're going to do is destroy
your own soul. That's why Paul said they're
opposing themselves when they oppose God. And he said, Timothy, instruct
them, teach them that that's what they're doing. You harden
your neck against God, you're going down. but teach them, instruct them
that oppose themselves. How come? Well, God just might. Peradventure. God might give
them repentance. And if he's going to do it, that's
how he's going to do it. Through the instruction of his word,
through the preaching of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Instruct them. if God, peradventure,
will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. Now you think about this. These
children of Israel said the same thing that that first son did.
We will. He said, you go work in my being.
You do my will. Here's what you do. Here's what
you don't do. Everything you say, we'll take
care of it. And then they didn't. Remember where we read in Deuteronomy,
where God, Moses said to them, God heard what you said that
day when you said, we will do all of the words that you've
commanded us. But then God said, oh, that there
were such a heart in them to do what I said. It's in their
mouth, but it's not in their hearts to do it. And that's just
the truth. That's all of us by nature. But
some of us are like that second son by God's grace. We shaking
our fist in God's face and say, I will not. But then we do by
the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. God looks
upon us and says, I'm well pleased. I'm well pleased with you. We do the will of God. How? In
our Lord Jesus Christ. He did God's will for us. And
he's our representative by grace through faith in him. If God gives you repentance,
you will acknowledge the truth, Paul said. What truth? The truth
concerning yourself. And I'll be brief here, but here's
the truth concerning me. By the doing of the law, I shall
never be justified before God. I will never measure up to God's holy standard. And we'll
acknowledge the truth about God. God's holy. He can't even look
at me without putting me in hell by nature. God is sovereign. He does as he pleases. Whatever
he does with me, it'll be what he wants to do and nobody will
stop him or question him. I know this about God too. I
know that he said, I will have mercy. I will have mercy. We say when he speaks to us and
says, you go work in my vineyard. I made you and he presses his
righteous claims upon us and we say, I will not. And what
does he say? I will have mercy. I'll have mercy. The truth about
God, and then we'll acknowledge the truth about how God saves
sinners. How a wretch like me can be saved,
can stand before God just and holy, forgiven, redeemed, well-pleasing
in His sight, and dwell with Him forever. How can that be?
Well, Romans 3.24, another familiar passage of Scripture. You can
turn there. I'm going to read it, but you turn there if you
want to and look at this. Romans 3.24. How does God save
a sinner? Romans 3, 24, being justified
freely by his grace. If he's gonna justify you, it's
gonna be without a cause in you. Freely means without a cause. The cause for your justification
is not in you, it's in God himself. He did it because he was pleased
to do it. There was nothing in you to attract that. No decision,
no walking an aisle, no living the Christian life, no anything,
no nothing. Freely by His grace. Well, how
can God do that? How can He just say your sins
are forgiven? Through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, that's
how. because the Lord Jesus Christ shed his precious blood and washed
my sins away. And so God freely says to me,
you're justified. Whom God, that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God hath set forth to be a sin offering, a propitiation,
a sin offering through faith in his blood. He's a sin offering. objectively in himself. That's what he came down here
to do, to give his soul a ransom for many. Is he my sin offering? That happens through faith in
his blood. What blood? The blood that's
represented by the blood that Moses splashed on those people
when they said we'll obey God. Well, there won't be any need
for blood then. Yeah, but here's the thing, they're not gonna
obey God. They never have up to that point,
not one single minute, not one thing they've done was in perfect
obedience to God up to that point and they never will obey God. They never will be able to please
God. In this flesh dwelleth no good thing. So Moses get the
blood and grab the hyssop and here it comes. It's going to
have to be applied to you. That's it. Now, through faith
in his blood, redemption is mine. He's my propitiation, my sin
offering through faith. Faith lays hold of him and claims
him. This is my sin. Christ is my
righteousness. He's my sin offering. He's my
wisdom. He's my sanctification. He's
my redemption. He's all I need. He's all in
all. That's faith through faith in
his blood. And God did all this to declare
His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past. Through
the forbearance of God. God can't forbear your sin. He's got to put you in hell unless
there's remission. Where's that? His blood. How
is it mine? Through faith in His blood. To
declare, I say at this time, His righteousness. That God might
be just. and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus. God is just and justifier. He can't be both without blood. He's got to be one or the other.
If he's gonna be just, he's gotta put you in hell. Or if he's gonna
save you, then he ceases to be just, unless there's bloodshed
for you. And that justification before
God is yours through faith in that blood. That's how God gives
it to you, by faith. All right, there's the blood.
The remission of sins. What are sins? Disobedience to
that law. And they sat there telling the
biggest lie anybody ever told. We'll keep your law. We'll do
everything you said. Nobody's ever lied bigger than
that. And Moses started splashing blood. Isn't that just a beautiful
picture of the gospel? When God reveals the truth to
us and grants repentance to the acknowledging of it, we will
hear the words of the law as delivered at Sinai. And we will
fly to the foot of the cross of Calvary singing, what can
wash away my sin? If God has shined any light in
your heart and you hear his law, I guarantee you that'll be the
question. And not much else will matter to you. What can wash
away my sin? And you'll know the answer. You'll
know the answer if God gives you repentance to the acknowledging
of his truth. Nothing. Nothing but. Moses has got to get the blood,
you see, and splash it on me. We'll cry with the publican.
God be propitious to me at the blood splashed mercy seat. I'm the sinner. That's what he
said. If you look up that word merciful, God be merciful to
me, the sinner. It talks about propitiation.
That's the word. It's a mercy seat he's talking
about there. Lord, be propitious to me at
the mercy seat. The Lord Jesus Christ, because
I am the sinner, if I'm gonna be able to stand before you,
there's gonna have to be mercy. And the only way that happens
is at the mercy seat where the blood is splashed. And the Lord
said, he went down to his house justified. That's what happens
at the mercy seat, you see. That's what happens where the
blood is splashed. Sins are gone. Justification is enjoyed before
God. And seeing that precious sin-cleansing
blood, effectual, and having obtained eternal redemption for
you, if God grants you that repentance to the acknowledging of His truth,
for you and all for whom the Lord shed it, if you ever see
that, Him, and His precious blood shed for you effectually. You'll say with the Apostle Paul,
and I will too, God forbid that I should glory, save in that
cross. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how can we glory in anything
else but that precious blood? The blood. Moses said, behold,
the blood of the covenant, the blood of the covenant. That makes us think of another
scripture that we often look at together. Luke 22, 20, the
Lord Jesus took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the
new covenant in my blood. Moses, how many thousands of
years before said, behold, the blood of the covenant. And the
Lord Jesus took that little glass of wine, whatever it was, and
they all, he said, drink all of it. And he said, here's what
this is. This cup is the new covenant, the new covenant, which
is in my blood, the covenant of grace, the covenant of mercy. the new covenant where God didn't
say this do and live he just flat said live he said I will
pardon your iniquities your sins will I remember no more that's
what the blood does that was just wine in that cup and this
was animal blood in our text but it represented something
like the wine that we drink when we observe the table Hebrews
10, 11, every priest standeth daily ministering. This was under
that old covenant. Every day, they ministered and
offered oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
The wine can't, there's no grace in that wine. And there's no
forgiveness in that animal blood. But here's where forgiveness
is, but this man, After he had offered one sacrifice for sins
forever, sat down on the right hand of God to see if anybody
would make it effectual. No. Isn't that just foolish,
what people? They'll argue all day about that,
to try to convince you that his blood didn't do anything unless
you make it effectual. Can you imagine that? In order
to sneak a little glory for themselves. There can be no other motive
for that. But this says that he sat down on the right hand
of God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering he hath,
past tense, perfected forever. He has done it, and it's forever,
perfected forever, them that are sanctified by that precious
blood. It's just clear, isn't it? Turn
there with me, Hebrews 10. Let's read further on than that.
That's what I had in my notes, but I want you to see the rest
of that too. Hebrews 10, look at verse 15. We read through verse 14. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified, whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness
to us. For after that he had said before,
this is the covenant that I will make with them after those things,
saith the Lord. Here he goes reminding them of
the new covenant, the new covenant in Christ's blood. Thus saith
the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, not tables
of stone, and in their minds will I write them, and their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more, and there's no if anywhere
in that sentence, or anywhere in this covenant. Now whoever
remission of these is, there's no more offering for sin, there's
none necessary. They're gone, they're gone. Having
therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus. You don't have to, if you come
into this holy place, you don't have to bring an offering with
you. The Lord Jesus already shed his blood and paved the way.
We enter by his blood, not the blood of an animal. by a new
and living way which he has consecrated for us through the veil, that
is to say his flesh, and having in high priest over the house
of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, the
blood splashed on our heart, just like the law is in your
mind and in your heart. That blood is applied to the
heart, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold
fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful
and promised. and let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another, and so much the more, as you see the day approaching. For if we sin willfully, after
that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for
of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment,
suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot
the Son of God. Now that's the sin willfully
in verse 26. We've all sinned against his
law and we do that willfully, of course. We know what we're
doing when we sin. He's not talking about that.
He's talking about you trod under foot the Son of God and count
the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing. and hath done despite unto the
Spirit of grace." Of grace. We all hate His law by nature.
I'll tell you this, if you despise His grace, there's no hope for
you. There's no sacrifice for your
sin. There's no remission. If you trample underfoot the
Son of God and count His blood, the blood of the covenant, an
unholy thing. You know what that word unholy
means there? This is interesting. It means common. It means general
to all, as opposed to specific to a few. How many count his
blood that way? General to all. Christ died for
everybody. You're trampling his blood under
your feet. You're making it worthless. You're
making it a common thing. No, his precious blood is holy.
That's the blood of the covenant. and it's sanctified, perfected
forever, everyone he shed it for. Everyone. Even while God, by his prophet
Moses, was pronouncing, picture again the scene there in our
text. He's pronouncing the conditions of the old covenant that could
result in nothing but death. But even while he was doing that,
he was showering the people with the blood of the new covenant
that gives life. While they heard the very words
that exposed all of their sins, they felt the power of the blood
that washes sin away. By the law is the knowledge of
sin, but by that blood is the forgiveness of sin. The law reveals
our filth and the blood washes clean. Unto him that loved us,
John said, washed us from our sins in his own blood. The law establishes guilt and
the blood justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. Will you condemn me for whom
Christ died? Will you say, well, Christ died
for you, but whether you're justified or not is up to you. Remember
what we just read in Hebrews 10, 29. If Christ died for you,
Paul said, no one can condemn you in heaven, earth, or hell. No one. It's Christ that died. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world. He's the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, but he was manifest in these last
times for you, revealed to you in these last days, who by him
do believe in God that raised him from the dead. He shed His
precious blood and died on Calvary, but God raised Him from the dead.
And as Peter said, He hath made this same Jesus, whom you crucified,
both Lord and Christ, 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. gave him glory. A man received glory from God
and he did it for me. He did it as my representative.
Turn to Hebrews 9 and we'll close with this, just a few verses
here in Hebrews 9. See in these verses now the necessity
of blood, why that blood was sprinkled And see also here the
effectual nature of the blood. There's no contingency. The blood
doesn't make anything possible. Look what it accomplishes. Hebrews
9, 18. Whereupon neither the first covenant
was dedicated without blood. Purified, that word is purified
there. It's not purified without, but
even the first covenant, there was blood there. We just read
about it. It's called the blood of the covenant by Moses. 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. He took that hyssop and dipped
it in the blood. And this is what he said, this
is the blood of the covenant 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." He sprinkled
all the vessels. Almost everything is purged with
blood. And without the shedding of blood
is no remission. There were some things under
the old law that were purified by water. They didn't have to
do with remission of sin. If there's going to be remission
of sin, there's going to be blood. there's the necessity of the
blood now look he's talking about the old things now there in those
verses now he's talking about what that represented in verse
twenty three it was therefore necessary just like under that
old covenant there had to be blood so under this new covenant
there also has to be it was necessary 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. He's not an earthly priest. He's
a heavenly priest into heaven itself now to appear in the presence
of God. And these are some of the most
beautiful little words you'll ever see in your life for us. for us, substitution, representation. He pleased God with that blood
for us. This is my blood, which I shed
for you. And he presented it to the father as sacrifice for
your sin, for you, if you're his, if you believe on him. It's not contingent upon your
faith, but that's how you know whether he did that for you or
not. You want to know if that was you? Believe. That's the
only way you'll know. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often. The Old Testament sacrifices
were the same sacrifices as he said in chapter 10, that could
never take away sin. That high priest entered into
the holy place every year with the 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 to put
away sin. not to make anything available,
to put it away. He came to put it away. Now he
either did that or he didn't do that. He came to put sin away
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. He bore my sins. He was punished
for my sins and rose again for my justification, having satisfied
the Father for my sins, having fully suffered the punishment
due to my sin. And God's justice is satisfied
with regard to me. because my sins were laid on
him, and he was punished for them. And he rose again from
the dead and went and sat on the right hand of God, a man,
the man, my representative. He bore my sins, you see. He
didn't just make an offer or make something possible. He bore
my sins and paid for them and perfected forever those that
he sanctified with that blood. And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time.
Are you looking for him tonight? Are you looking for him? He will
appear, and those sins that he took on himself, they're not
going to be on him. He'll appear without sin. Where'd
they go? They're gone. They're behind
God's back, wherever that is. That's what God said. I put them
behind my back, wherever that is. as far as the east is from
the west. So far has he removed our transgressions
from us unto salvation. Are you saved? By God's grace,
yes. Saved by that precious blood.
But one of these days I'm going to sure enough be saved. I'm
going to be plum saved. All the way saved. What does
that mean? He's coming to get us and to
take us back with him. If I go to prepare a place for
you, I'll come again and receive you unto myself that where I
am. You want to know what plum salvation
is? Where I am, there you may be also. There's salvation. I'm looking, by God's grace,
I'm looking for that, for him. Let's bow in prayer.