Did you ever wonder how it is
that men and women could do the things they do in the name of
religion, which seemed to be so horribly barbaric and cruel? Whenever we go to Mexico to visit
with Walter and Cody, we always go by and visit one of the Mayan
ruins, and I stand there in utter amazement as I realize that in
their barbaric religion, those people with utter sincerity would
take their own sons and daughters and literally sacrifice them
to their imaginary gods, kill them with their own hands. Can
you imagine such? Back in days when papacy didn't
wear quite as pretty a garment as it wears today, When people
took pilgrimage, you often hear about pilgrimage, folks taking
pilgrimages to Rome or pilgrimages to Jerusalem and so forth, especially
on holy days or holy times. It used to be they'd take those
pilgrimages and inflict great pain upon themselves. People
have been known to deliberately cut themselves, deliberately
mutilate themselves in the name of penance as they sought to
worship God. Look at that and you think, how
barbaric, how ignorant. In our day of works religion,
men and women are persuaded to make great sacrifices, give money. I've known men who've been persuaded
to sell their houses and businesses by some hoaxster and give their
money to him in the name of religion. in the name of doing God's service,
hoping by spending his money on earth to buy a crown for himself
in heaven. Give us your money and you'll
lay up treasures for yourself in heaven. To us that seems utterly,
utterly strange and barbaric, and well it should. But these
things are done, and done by men in great sincerity. You can
persuade men to do many things, if you can persuade them. that
by doing certain things, or anything, by making any sacrifice, even
making a sacrifice so that they would be willing to sacrifice
their own lives, if by doing so they can find acceptance with
God, they'll do it. They'll do it. If men can be
convinced that by something they do, they'll find acceptance with
God, Larry, there's no end to what men will do. None whatever.
You see, the question constantly plagues people who have any thought
concerning these things. How can a guilty sinner, a man
or a woman, who knows he's a sinner, who knows he's a sinner, one
who knows he's broken God's holy law, Not only broken the law
here and there, but broken the law willfully, constantly, and
entirely in every point from our youth up. One who knows that
in thought, in word, and in deed, in action and in attitude, in
reality, at the core of his being, he's a vile, abominable, filthy
wretch before God Almighty. How can such a one approach the
holy Lord God inflexibly just? That God who says I will by no
means clear the guilty. How on this earth can you come
to him with confident expectation that he'll receive you, accept
you, and smile upon you? That's a big question. Hebrews
chapter 9 gives us the answer. Read with me, verses 1 through
14. Obviously I can't do anything more than just give an overview
of this. We'll just pick out the highlights. I hope to kind
of inspire you to study it in more detail. But read with me,
beginning at verse 1, Hebrews chapter 9. Then verily the first
covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly
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 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 the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's
rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant. And over it,
over the mercy seat, or over the ark of the covenant rather,
the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat, of which we cannot
now speak particularly. Now when these things were thus
ordained, the priest went always, that is every day, into the first
tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God, doing what they
were told to do. 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. Now
when you read that, does that sound strange to you? It's got
to sound a little bit strange. Fellas dressed up in unusual
attire, taking blood sacrifices into a tent, into a holy place
within that tent, sprinkling it on a mercy seat, covering
an ark, and coming out and thereby doing the service of God. In
this age, that sounds a bit strange. You say, well, we recognize these
are historic facts, and these historic facts must be understood
and received. We just embrace them, but they
don't really have anything to do with us. Oh, that's a big mistake. You see, these historic facts
are given by the God of history, and the God of history does all
things for our sakes, and those things written in this book were
written for our learning, for our admonition, for our comfort,
and for our instruction. So these things have a very definite
personal application to each of us in this day as we look
to Christ. How is that? Read on. Verse 8. the Holy Ghost this signifying. That is, this is what the Holy
Spirit's teaching us by all these things. That the way into the
holiest of all was not yet made manifest. While as the first
tabernacle was standing, which was a figure, a type, a picture,
a representation, for the time then present, just for a little
while, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that
could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining
to the conscience, which only stood in meats and drinks and
divers washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time
of reformation or until the time of change. But Christ, being
come and 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, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the
blood of bulls, and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer, and
the sprinkling of the unclean sanctifies to the purifying of
the flesh, that is, they'll make the outward flesh, make a man
outwardly ceremonially clean before God. Not that they actually
bathed in it, but ceremonially they were clean in a fleshly
sense. So that the ceremonial observance of these ceremonial
sacrifices made men ceremonially accepted, but only ceremonially. only outwardly. But look at this
now. Verse 12. Neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. Now, the
conclusion is, for if the blood of goats, or bulls and of goats,
and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling of the unclean, sanctifies, to
the purifying of the flesh, how much more, if those things serve
ceremonially, 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 just
hold your Bibles open here at Hebrews chapter 9. I'm going
to deliberately make a little bit of repetition because I don't
want you to forget the purpose of the Holy Spirit in this portion
of Scripture. It is principally threefold.
First, it is obviously the purpose of the Holy Spirit throughout
the book of Hebrews, and particularly now as we come to the explanation
of those Old Testament sacrifices, to show us the preeminence, glory,
and exaltation of Christ above all things pertained in the law.
The law was given just to point to him. Christ is preeminent
and exalted above all these things for he fulfills them all. They
find their completion and fulfillment in him. Secondly, the Holy Spirit
gives us these things to show us that all these Old Testament
sacrifices The priesthood, the priestly garments, the tabernacle,
the altar, the showbread, all of it were pictures and types
of Christ Jesus our Lord, who is our only sin-atoning high
priest. Those sacrifices made in the
Old Testament did absolutely nothing to purge sin. They did
absolutely nothing by which men would be made accepted with God
except ceremonially as they pictured him by whom sinners are accepted
with God. Don't ever imagine, and this
is a common error promoted by so many ignorantly, don't ever
imagine that God in the Old Testament saved people differently than
he does in the New Testament. Some folks say, well, God saved
folks by the law in the Old Testament. He saves them by grace in the
New Testament. Not so. Folks say, well, God saved people
in those ceremonial sacrifices in the Old Testament today. He
saves them another way. Not so. God saved Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and the children of Israel who knew
him in exactly the same way as he saved sinners today by the
revelation of Christ in their hearts through the word that
he gave by making himself known to them effectually in irresistible
power by his free and sovereign grace. Those sacrifices that
were made pointed to Christ who was to come through whom God
forgave sin and forgave it on the same grounds as he does now,
just as satisfied by the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Now thirdly, these things are given to show us that
all these ceremonies, all the law, all the types, all the pictures,
find their absolute, final fulfillment and completion in Jesus Christ
the Lord. Turn back to chapter 10 again.
We'll look at this a number of times. Look at verse 9. Hebrews
10 verse 9. Then saith he, Lo, I come, I
come to do thy will, O God. Now how does he do that? He taketh
away the first that he may establish the second. Does that mean God
took away the Old Testament? No, he fulfilled it. He took
away the old covenant. He took away the old ceremonies.
He took away the old outward visible way of doing things,
and now he's established the second, the new covenant, the
covenant of his grace has been fully revealed. Now the way of
access to God is open, and that way is Jesus Christ the Lord.
Christ is the end of the law. Now, when folks come and say,
We ought to teach tithing, or we ought to teach Sabbath keeping,
or we ought to teach folks to live by the Ten Commandments.
Nothing can be wrong with that. Oh yes it is. Oh yes it is. Something dreadfully wrong with
that. For when you teach folks to live by the law, you teach
folks that their acceptance with God comes by living by the law. Understand that? There's no separating
the same. And when you say that we're under
the law in one sense of the word, you must conclude we're under
the law in every sense of the word, and there is absolutely
no way you can interpret the scriptures otherwise. The whole
law stands, or the whole law has been fulfilled. Either Christ
has accomplished it all, or we're yet under the law, and we ought
to be worshiping just exactly like those Jews did in the Old
Testament. All right, now let's look at our text this evening.
We'll look at it in three parts, verses 1 through 7. Verses 8
through 10 and then verses 11 through 14. First in verses 1
through 7 we're given a brief description of those ordinances
of divine worship in the Old Testament. Look at the first
five verses. Then verily the first covenant
had also ordinances of divine service. A worldly sanctuary,
a physical sanctuary. We worship God in spirit and
in truth. We don't have a physical sanctuary.
Please learn. I know sometimes we say things
out of habit, out of custom, that we all now say, this is
not a church building, and this is not a sanctuary, and this
is not the church. This is just a building where
the church of God meets. We are his church, his people
are. His people are the building of
God, the temple of God. There's no such thing as a physical
holy place. Don't ever refer to that ground
over in Palestine as being the holy land. Don't ever refer to
holy things. Don't ever refer to this as a
holy desk. It is not. Don't ever refer to
this as a holy place. It is not. This just happens
to be a place dedicated to the worship of God. It's just a building. It's just a building. We get
done with it if God gives us a reason to move elsewhere, to
build another building, or outgrow this, or whatever comes to pass.
You want to sell this and turn it into a barn and be alright.
Don't ever have an idolatrous, superstitious notion about a
building. This earthly sanctuary is what
the Jews had, and it's done away. We worship God in the Spirit.
Verse 2. For there was a tabernacle made,
the first wherein was the candlestick, or the lampstand, and the table
of shewbread, which is called the sanctuary, and after the
second veil the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all,
or the holy of holies. which had the golden censer in
the ark of the covenant, overlaid round about with gold, wherein
was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded in
the tables of the law, tables of the covenant, and over it
the cherubims of the glory, shadowing the mercy seat of which we cannot
now speak particularly. Now that physical earthly tabernacle
that the Jews used in the wilderness before the temple was built,
that which the temple superseded when it was built, that earthly
tabernacle was made according to divine instruction, made by
the pattern God showed Moses in the mountain. The sacrifices
of worship were given exactly according to divine appointment.
And the tabernacle itself was, it wasn't much to look at. It
was a building about 45 feet long. It was about 15 feet wide,
15 feet high. It was covered with just ordinary
skins. It had two sections, two compartments.
The outer court, the holy place, and then that inner sanctuary,
that inner court called the holiest of all, the holy of holies. It
was 15 by 15 by 15. In that inner sanctuary was the
Ark of the Covenant, in that Holy of Holies. Separating the
two was a veil. Try to picture it in your mind
if you can. Here's the tabernacle. Out here is the veil separating. And back there is the Holy of
Holies, the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant. Back
there, only the high priest could go one time a year. Because that
shows that there was no way of access to God, but there was
one coming. That's what it's all about. In
that, I call it the outer court, that's not technical. So in the
holy place, the priest would come and do their daily business,
accomplishing their daily services for God, as God required, so
that they offered sacrifices every morning, every evening,
they trimmed the lampstands in the tabernacle, and they kept
those lamps burning according to the commandment of God. They
came in and did those daily services, and there was an altar there,
there was a lampstand there, and there was a table of showbread
there, and all of it pictured Christ. Made of wood, overlaid
with gold, picturing both his humanity and his divinity. Christ
our sacrifice, Christ the bread of life, Christ the light of
the world. The only light in there was Christ. And the only
light we have is Christ. The only bread in there was Christ.
The only bread we have is Christ. The only way of access to God
is by that sacrifice. The only way of access to God
we have is Christ the Lord. But back here in this inner place,
in this holy of holies, there was a veil. A veil. A thick, thick, thick veil. And the high priest, one day
a year, On that week of atonement, on that great Sabbath day maintained
by Israel from the giving of the law until the time that God
put an end to it, the Lord God sent His high priest only with
blood, and only with the blood of a specific kind, the blood
of an innocent, spotless lamb set aside, inspected, ordained
to God, sacrificed, slain by the slaughter knife of the priest.
take it in there and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and the
high priest would come back out and he knew he had to go back
next year he had to go back next year it was a picture showing
the necessity of redemption and showing that there's one coming
who's going to take us into that holy place behind the veil and
obtain redemption there's a priest coming alright now secondly Look
at verses 8, 9, and 10. What does all this mean? What's
the significance of it? Here the Holy Spirit tells us
that these divinely ordained ordinances of worship signified
the necessity of Christ's accomplishments at Calvary. Those sacrifices
said, fellas, we've got to have a sacrifice. Those sacrifices
said, we've got to have blood. Abel knew that when he came to
God. Adam taught Abel in the garden, after he was expelled
from the garden at least, what God taught Adam and Eve in the
garden. The only way sinners can come to God is by blood atonement. Blood atonement as God has ordained
through a lamb, God sacrifices. Abel brought blood and was accepted
of God. And the difference, the only
difference between Cain and Abel before God Almighty was the sacrifice. I don't mean to suggest there
was no difference between the two men. There was, but it was
a difference grace had made. Grace applied to them through
the blood represented in that sacrifice. We come to God only
by blood. The Holy Ghost, this signifying,
you see it? That the way into the holiest
was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was standing.
Long as it stood, long as it stood, there wasn't a way of
access to God. which was a figure for the time then present, that
is, it was a temporary picture, in which were offered both gifts
and sacrifices that could not, is there that? Could not, could
not, no possibility, no possibility, could not make him that did the
service perfect as pertaining to conscience. which stood only
in meats, and drinks, and divers, washings, and carnal ordinances
imposed by them until the time of Reformation." Now that's not
talking about the Reformation started by Martin Luther, that's
talking about the time of change, when God changed the whole order
of things. Now here are four things clearly taught by the
Holy Spirit in these three verses. Number one, the way to God. The way by which sinners could
come to God, the way by which guilty, fallen, doomed, damned,
helpless, vile, wretched sinners could come to God Almighty was
not made manifest while the tabernacle was still standing. It was not
yet made manifest. That doesn't mean the way wasn't
there. It was not clearly seen. It was not clearly manifest.
It was seen only as through a glass darkly. It was seen only in types
and pictures and shadows and prophecies. Those things spoke
of a time coming when there would be one come who would make open
the way to God Almighty. But while the tabernacle stood,
the way was not made manifest. Secondly, in verse 9 we see that
this first tabernacle was just a symbol, nothing more. A picture
for the time present to typify the work of Christ. Number three,
those sacrifices, now turn back to Hebrews chapter 10 for a moment.
Those sacrifices could never take away sin. Not all the blood of beasts on
Jewish altars slain can give the guilty conscience peace or
wash away the stain. Can't be done. No sacrifice made
of a beast, even a beast such as God required, by a priest
whom God ordained, in a tabernacle, in a holy place, on a mercy seat
God established, could never take away sin. And certainly
that sacrifices of a sinful man can't take away sin. Here in
Hebrews chapter 10 verse 1. For the law, having a shadow
of good things to come, and not the very image or substance of
those things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
For then would they not have ceased to be offered if once
sin was put away? If once those who came to God
in this manner had a clean conscience, stood perfect before God, there
wouldn't be any more need for the tabernacle, the altar, the
mercy seat, the Ark of the Covenant, or anything symbolized in that
Old Testament worship. Exactly my point. Now Christ
has come and done what they could not do, and these things have
ceased. Read on. Verse 2. For then would they
not have ceased to be offered, because that the worshippers,
once purged, purged of all sin, should have had no more conscience
of sin." Once it's purged, no more conscience. Now, there are
a lot of ways to speak about conscience, but this is what
he's saying. If a man owes a debt, and he's an honest man, that
man's conscious of his debt all the time, until it's paid. But
once the debt's paid, he has no more obligation and no more
consciousness of the debt, because the debt's gone. That simple
enough? And once a man's sin has been
exposed to him, he's conscious of his sin. He's conscious of
his sin. And unless his conscience is
seared willfully in the judgment of God, that man continues to
grow in consciousness of sin. And when the Holy Spirit applies
the word, causes the law of God to prick your heart and shows
you who Christ is and his righteousness and grace and mercy, you're conscious
of sin. Ah, but once you see Christ,
having put away your sin, the sin's gone, Bobby. It's gone. Since the debt's paid. The sin's
gone, and there's no more conscience of sin. This is what he's talking
about. Look at verse 3. But in those sacrifices, there's
remembrance made again of sin every year. Sacrifices, and boys,
we're still guilty. We're still guilty. We're still
guilty. We're still guilty. You can relate to this a little
bit. I guarantee everybody here can who's born of God. There
was a time When you experience some legal conviction and you
begin to try to make amends with God, you try to atone for sin,
you try to clean up your life, you try to straighten up, you
try to start doing good, quit doing bad, go to church, read
your bible, pray, give, sacrifice, witness, whatever. You spent
25 years trying to do it, didn't you? And nothing would give the
conscience peace. Why? Because these things just
constantly remind us of our sin, our depravity. Alright, read
on. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin. It takes something
more than that. It takes the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's darling son. All right, here's the other thing
taught in verses 8, 9, and 10. These ceremonies imposed by God's
decree and by God's law on the children of Israel were imposed
on them just for a set time, a specified time until the fullness
of time should come when God would send forth his son made
of a woman made under the law to redeem them that were under
the law. All right, now look at verses 11 through 14. I recall when I was 18 years
old, I got hold of a little paperback book called Redemption Accomplished
and Applied. Oh, what a tremendous, tremendous
exposition it is of the person and work of Christ at Calvary.
And this is what's described here in verses 11, 12, 13, and
14. The accomplishment of redemption
and the application of it. Redemption was accomplished at
Calvary. Now, get hold of this, it'll
help you. Our repentance does nothing to
put away sin. Our faith does nothing to put
away sin. Our obedience to God does nothing
to put away sin. There is nothing that we do or
experience in time to accomplish redemption for ourselves or to
make redemption effectual for ourselves. Redemption was accomplished
entirely outside of us by the sacrifice of God's Son at Calvary.
But there comes a time when we experience it. There comes a
time when the Holy Spirit causes the blood to be sprinkled on
our hearts, effectually making our consciences to be freed from
sin as He gives us faith in Christ. Now let's look at these verses
together. Here the Holy Spirit tells us that Christ, our great
High Priest, Our sin-atoning substitute, by the sacrifice
of himself, has actually accomplished and obtained eternal redemption
for God's elect by the infinite merit and efficacy of his shed
blood. Let's see if that's what it says.
Look at verses 11 and 12. 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,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood
he entered in one time into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption, and he did it for us." The Lord Jesus here declares
for us by his Spirit the efficacy of his blood before God Almighty. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
by the sacrifice of himself, has fully satisfied the law and
justice of God Almighty and has thereby obtained eternal redemption
for us. Christ being called. In due time,
Christ died for the ungodly. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his Son. He came here. Lo, I come, a body
hast thou prepared me. I come to do thy will, O my God. I come here to do your will,
by the which will now we are sanctified through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ one time for us. The Lord Jesus came
here, took on himself our nature, the seed of a woman, came here
as that one promised back in the first gospel message in Genesis
3.15. And came here to crush the serpent's head by the accomplishment
of redemption. Now either he did it or he didn't.
And he did it. He did it. Jesus Christ died
at Calvary and when he rose again the third day he by himself declares
that redemption is accomplished for he has with his blood. entered
in once into the holy place having obtained redemption he did so
just as soon as he said father into thy hands I commend my spirit
bowed his head gave up the ghost he entered into heaven and he's
done so physically when he was raised up from the dead and then
glorified raised up into heaven ascended up and took his seat
at the right hand of the majesty on high and he got in his hands
eternal redemption redemption that cannot be taken away. Redemption that cannot be nullified. Redemption that cannot, under
any circumstances, for any reason, be revoked by God. He has obtained eternal redemption. And He did it specifically for
us. How is that? The Lord Jesus,
by His blood, did what no other sacrifice could do. He took on
Himself our sin. And he bared our sins in the
court of heaven before God Almighty on the cursed tree. And the Lord
God Almighty drew out the sword of his justice and shoved it
into his son. And when he did, listen now,
he swallowed the sword. So that justice is completely
satisfied. Should we all, should all the
human race suffer the wrath of God forever in hell, there would
be no satisfaction to justice. But he who is God in human flesh
by one sacrifice has satisfied justice and put away sin. Now,
he's obtained eternal redemption. All right, look at verses 13
and 14. Since Christ has obtained eternal
redemption for us, that no more sacrifice be made for sin. No
more. Not only has his blood been efficacious
with God, his blood is efficacious to purge our consciences when
applied by the Holy Spirit to our hearts. Look at verse 13.
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, How much more, oh how much more shall the blood
of Christ, God's own dear son, who through the eternal spirit
offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God. Dead works, what's
that? All our former efforts to make
ourselves acceptable with God. The dead works here, is not talking
about adultery, fornication, and drunkenness. That's not dead
works, that's dead sins. What he's talking about here
is your former religion. That former religion which the
Jews continue to labor under the delusion of, and those who
attempt to bring themselves to God by obedience to the law,
still are deluded with. Those who try by their works
to attain God's favor, they do so by dead works. And they can
never be at peace. Never. I had a young fellow sitting
out on the back stoop of the garage one evening, came down
to visit me from up in New York and we talked a good bit. He had heard me preach on radio
and he wanted to drive by and visit. He said, and he was just
as serious as he could be, bless his heart. He sat down there
and he was just broken hearted. He said, oh, Brother Don will
go to church and pastor preaches. And I feel so horrible, so ashamed,
so beat down, so guilty. And I called him by name and
I said, that's a pity. That's a pity. I'm not here to
beat you down. I'm not here to keep you oppressed.
I'm not here to keep you guilty. I've been sent of God to proclaim
redemption accomplished. It's done. It's done. I want you to come in here, no
matter how heavy your heart is with your sin, no matter how
cold, no matter how corrupt you know yourself to be. Oh, children
of God, look away to Christ and rejoice. I'm telling you, his
blood is efficacious before God. God Almighty, God Almighty looked
at his son and the sacrifice he made to Calvary. And this
is what God said, David. Enough. What will it take to forgive
my soul? That's enough. What will it take to make me
accepted with God? That's enough. What will it take
to give me peace with God? That's enough. What will it take
to reconcile this rebel with God Almighty? That's enough.
What will it take to satisfy God's wrath and justice? That's
enough. And I never thought it was possible.
I spent agonizing months and in varying degrees, honestly
agonizing years with a tormented conscience. And I'd try to go
get a little dose of religion. And I'd been told I saved since
I was six years old. Everybody on earth knew I saved
except me. Everybody yeah, I just I go contest something wasn't
anything to do go go go be dedicated What do you think dedicated start
with and my conscience still guilty? Still guilty I'd go back
to church start attending church, and I'd try to pray and I try
to read And I try to act like the other folks church acted and my conscience screamed in
my soul night and day and said it's not enough it's not enough
it's not enough it's not enough and then one day God the Holy
Spirit turned the light on in my soul and caused the light
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ crucified to
shine in this sinner's heart and when I saw him My conscience says that's enough.
That's enough. And in the teeth of my sin right
now, in the teeth of what I know I am right now, oh bless God,
that's enough. That's enough. Amen.