Turn with me again, please, to
Leviticus, chapter 16. Leviticus, chapter 16. My subject this morning is the
Day of Atonement. I'm quite sure you've all had
the experience as you grow in the grace of God, you who are
believers, and you read the Word, the Word of God just gets bigger
and bigger and bigger. It just seems like you can't
possibly comprehend what's written in the Word. Sometimes you'll
read a text or a chapter and you read that and you think,
well, that's beautiful. And then you read it and it just
starts expanding in your mind. continually expands in the understanding
of what's written there. That's much the way I was in
approaching this subject and this passage here in Leviticus
16. I can't possibly preach to you
all that I have prepared to preach this morning. Well, I probably
could, but you probably wouldn't be able to listen that long.
So I'm going to preach this morning on the subject and again this
evening. Brother Barnard used to say the mind can only take
in what the bottom can endure, so I'll try not to labor you
too much. This morning I'll preach to you
from this chapter and again this evening. Let's read for a text,
verse 17. There shall be no man in the
tabernacle of the congregation when Aaron goeth in to make an
atonement in the holy place. until he come out and have made
an atonement for himself and for his household and for all
the congregation of Israel." I will not read the chapter again,
but let me just give you the order of events that took place
on this solemn day once every year in the land of Israel. Early
in the morning, Aaron would go out to do the daily sacrifices
that must be performed. After the daily sacrifices were
offered, in verse 4 we read how that Aaron was required of God
to go in to strip off his holy garments, his gorgeous garments
of the priesthood, bathe his body in water, and put on the
linen garments of the sacrifice. He was required then to select
two kids and one ram, the kids for the Lord the ram to make
an atonement for himself. And so the Lord then told Aaron
to take and cast lots upon the goats. The lot would fall one
upon the Lord's goat to be slaughtered and one upon the scapegoat to
be set free. Aaron was then required to bring
the bullock for himself and to make an atonement for himself
in verse 11. Before he went into the holy
place, he was to go to the altar and take the burning coals from
off the altar. And he would take incense in
his hands and put it on the burning coals, the live coals from off
the altar, and this incense would make a pillar of cloud to go
before him. And he would go in backward into
the holy place, and that incense would fill the room, lest he
should die. Then he would take the blood
of that bullock that was offered for himself. He would sprinkle
it upon the mercy seat and seven times before the mercy seat. Then everyone would go out of
the holy place. He would take the goat that was
to be sacrificed, the offering unto the Lord God. And he would
take the blood of that goat, having slain it, catch it in
a basin. He'd go in again with the incense.
And he would go in with the basin of blood. And he would back again
into that holy place. And he would turn around and
sprinkle the mercy seat. And he would sprinkle the blood
before the mercy seat seven times. Having done that, Aaron made
an atonement for himself. He made an atonement for the
tabernacle. He made an atonement for the
congregation. He made an atonement for all
the holy things of the house of the Lord. And then, having
made the atonement for the people, Aaron was required to go out
and make an atonement for the altar in verse 18. He would bring
the blood again to the altar and make an atonement upon it,
putting the blood there. And then Aaron would bring the
scapegoat, the living goat. And before all the congregation,
he would lay his hands upon the head of that goat and he would
confess the iniquities and the transgressions and the sins of
the people. This is the first thing done
publicly the whole day. Everything else was done in private.
Everything else was done in secret. No man saw or heard what was
going on but Aaron alone. But now he brings the scapegoat
out and he says, oh Lord God, hear now the sins of your people.
We have sinned against Thee. Our sins have separated between
us and our God. You're holy, we're sinful. You're
righteous, we're vile. We've transgressed every law.
We've broken every precept. We've sinned against God. We've
sinned against the Word. We've sinned against this holy
place. We've sinned against Your throne. We've sinned against
Your character. We're nothing else but sin. And
all the while, He's pressing His hands on that scapegoat.
by the symbolism transferring sin from himself and from all
of Israel onto the scapegoat. And then the scapegoat was taken
by a fit man and he was led out into the wilderness. We don't
know what happened after that. He let him go. That fit man watched
until he could see that goat no more. He was completely out
of sight. He was gone. He came back and
reported to Aaron that the scapegoat was gone, completely out of sight,
forever gone. And then Aaron would strip off
his linen garments and he would put back on his gorgeous robes
of the priesthood and come out before the people. Then they
would take the goat and the bullock that had been offered And all
that was left of that goat and bullock, their skins and their
kidneys and the fat thereof, they would go without the camp.
And they would burn the goat and the bullock with all the
fat, with all the skins and with all the dung, showing their contempt
for their sins. And then when the day was over,
the children of Israel on that day would afflict their souls.
But they would afflict their souls with joy. afflicting their
souls at the remembrance of sin, and afflicting their souls with
joy because their sins were removed. And it would be a Sabbath of
rest unto the people. Now this day of atonement was
ordained and initiated by God himself. Redemption, atonement,
propitiation is of divine origin. Man neither devised it nor desired
it. God found a ransom. God provided
the ransom for himself, God found the ransom in himself, and God
revealed the ransom by himself. Atonement is a divine work. If
God had left man to himself, Man could never have devised
a way of atonement. And though God has made the atonement
through the sacrifice of his dear son, the Lord Jesus, no
man is ever aware of that atonement until God himself reveals it.
All men hear about it, and they talk about it, and they discuss
it, and they debate it, but no man will ever discover the atonement
Christ has made to the saving of his soul until God reveals
it. This has been my prayer for you.
Oh God, as I preach, as I open the word and declare the gospel
to these who hear, make them see the atonement. Make them see the putting away
of sin. Make them see the finished work
of Christ and rest their souls upon him and upon his atonement. The Day of Atonement happened
only once a year. It was ordained and initiated
by God, and it happened once a year. The lamb of morning sacrifice
and evening sacrifice, those lambs were perpetually slaughtered
in the tabernacle and afterwards in the temple. Every morning
and every evening, sacrifices were made to God, and that reminded
the people that they always needed a sacrifice. But the Day of Atonement
was done one time every year. No matter what happened between
times, no matter how difficult the trials of Israel and the
wars of Israel were, no matter how greatly Israel or her king
had sinned, the Day of Atonement was observed once a year, only
once a year. That was done to show that the
people were to be redeemed by the Lamb of God, and he was to
be sacrificed but once in the end of the world. And by his
one sacrifice for sin, he would make an everlasting atonement
for the people. The Lord Jesus Christ is not
sacrificed daily. in the mass. He is not sacrificed
when we come together this evening and we break the bread and drink
the wine. There's no sacrificing of Christ
in that. He died once, and by his one
sacrifice for sin, he has forever put away the sins of his people.
He will come again the second time in glory without sin unto
salvation. But his sacrifice was final,
his sacrifice was effectual, his sacrifice was complete. It
was done once, one time only. The Day of Atonement was to be
kept at a certain set, fixed appointed time each year as well. It was not left up to Moses or
Aaron to choose the time that was convenient for them. The
Lord God said it is to be observed in the seventh month on the tenth
day of the month every year. It could not be kept at any other
time. The design of this was to show us that God's great day
of atonement was set, fixed, appointed, and determined by
God in His eternal purpose and decree of predestination. The
Lord Jesus Christ died but once, and then He died not by chance,
but by decree. God fixed the time before the
worlds were made, and at the appointed day, in the very hour
that God had ordained in eternal predestination, the Lord Jesus
Christ was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep
before her shearers had done, so opened He not His mouth. He
was but fulfilling what He and His Father had agreed upon from
all eternity. Now, as we survey this 16th chapter,
I want to draw your attention to five things about the Day
of Atonement. Oh, may God the Holy Spirit be
our teacher. This morning, we're going to
look at two things, the priest and the victim. But Lord willing,
this evening we will continue the same subject and we will
consider the scapegoat, the results of the atonement and the act
of faith revealed in this chapter. Look first with me then at the
priest who made atonement, the priest by whom the sacrifice
was given and by whom the atonement was made. Moses was commanded
to speak to Aaron, and Aaron alone was to make the atonement. The atonement was made by a specifically
appointed priest, not just any priest. That priest was Aaron
the high priest and his sons after him. God will have everything
done in order. Everything in the worship of
God. Nothing is left to the whims
of man in the worship of God Nothing is left for men to decide
how they will worship him Even the very small details of worship
are ordered of God and God expects and demands that we fulfill them
exactly You have an example of that most clearly given when
David wanted to bring the ark of God up out of the house of
obedience. I You remember how that he went down and it was
a good thing. He was bringing the ark of God
back to where it belonged. He was bringing the ark of God
back up to Jerusalem. It was a noble thing done for
the glory of God. But David didn't consult with
God in the matter. God had told the people of Israel
that no man's to touch that ark. God told them that it should
be carried by the priest on staves. God had given specific direction.
So David went down and they were having a party as they came along,
leaping and dancing and singing and making delight. And as they
started through a ravine, the ox cart tipped and the ark began
to slide. And Uzzah just braced it up,
keeping the ark of God from falling in the mud, keeping the ark of
God from falling off that ox cart, being smashed to pieces.
He was doing a good thing. And God killed him. Just like
that. God killed him. Why? Because
he made a breach against the Lord. Because he did what God
said don't do in my worship. So the Lord God gave an appointed
priest here. Everything was to be done in
God's order. Nothing was left to chance or to the whims of
men. Other inferior priests slaughtered lambs at other times. In fact,
At other times, almost all the work of the sanctuary was done
by other priests. Aaron didn't do hardly anything
from day to day except on the Day of Atonement, as far as sacrificing
in the tabernacle is concerned. But on that Day of Atonement,
nothing was done by anyone but Aaron. Aaron even offered the
morning and evening sacrifices that were perpetually to be offered.
He even lit the lights in the tabernacle. There was a lesser
priesthood given than the priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ as well.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, however, our great high priest, and he
only accomplished the work of atonement. That's the point.
We too are priests. We too minister to God in the
holy place, for he has made us kings and priests unto God. Every
believer is a priest. We've come here this morning
to offer up sacrifices to God, sacrifices of praise and prayer,
sacrifices of devotion and worship. But our priesthood This believer
priesthood has nothing to do with making atonement. This believer
priesthood has nothing to do with putting away sin. The Lord
Jesus Christ and He alone is the sin-atoning High Priest.
He alone puts away sin. By His one great sacrifice, by
Himself, without the aid of another, He put away sin, satisfying justice
by the shedding of His blood. The High Priest on the Day of
Atonement was robed in garments of humility. Look at verse 4.
He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen
breeches, linen breeches or linen trousers, upon his flesh, and
he shall be girded with a linen girdle. That's not the kind your
mama used to wear. That's the kind a fellow wears
when he goes to a dance. It's a cummerbund, a linen belt
around his waist, girded with a linen girdle. And with the
linen miter shall he be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore
shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on." Now at all
other times, at all other times, Aaron wore gorgeous garments. He wore that priestly miter. that was tied with the brilliant
blue lace. He had on his mitre the golden
plate, that plate that read, Holiness to the Lord. Aaron wore
that gorgeous, glorious priestly robe. He wore the ephod and the
breastplate, the golden breastplate that was studded with gems and
had the twelve precious stones and the names of the tribes of
Israel upon it. Aaron wore this gorgeous apparel
of the priest at all of the times, for it demonstrated a symbol
of glory, of the divine glory of the Son of God Himself. But
on the Day of Atonement, Aaron takes off the golden plate from
his head, and he takes off the beautiful mitre, and he takes
off his breastplate and the gorgeous robe that was made for him with
the bells and the pomegranates, And he takes off all the things
that represented his glory. He takes a bath. And then he
gets common, unadorned, simple linen garments. And he puts a
linen miter on his head. And he puts linen trousers on
and a linen coat. And he takes a linen belt and
ties it around his waist. Now those garments stripped away
from Aaron, those glorious garments of the priesthood, stripped away
from him, and his being clothed in humility, certainly are things
that hardly need an explanation to you. It represents the wondrous
humiliation and condensation of our Lord Jesus Christ. his
humiliation and his condescension, he came, the Son of God, he who
dwelt forever and ever in the glory of his eternal divinity,
he who is robed with splendor and majesty as God. He who is
the eternal, omnipotent, sovereign, almighty creator of all things,
the ruler of heaven and earth, God the eternal Son, holy, righteous,
just and glorious, majestic and splendorous. He who is rich in
glory, for your sakes became poor, that you through his poverty
might be made rich. Just as Aaron stripped off his
gorgeous garments of priesthood, the Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world and He laid aside His glory, His divine glory as
God. He didn't cease to be God, but
He laid aside the manifestations of His glory as God. He laid
aside His majesty and He came into this world as a man, robed
in human flesh. and not just any man, a totally
unadorned man, a man with nothing to appeal to men, a man with
nothing to get the honor of men, a man with nothing to cause men
to look upon him with favor, a tender plant, a root out of
dry ground, with no form or comeliness that we should desire him. That's
humiliation. In order to redeem us, in order
to make atonement for our sins, The Son of God became one of
us. He became one of us. He who thought
it not robbery to be equal with God made himself of no reputation. The word is, he emptied himself. He emptied himself. He came and
dwelt on earth as a man. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself again and became the servant of men. And being the servant of men,
he humbled himself again and became obedient. And being obedient,
he humbled himself again and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. That's his grace. That's his
grace. Our Lord's humiliation and his
condescension. And yet, though these garments
which Aaron wore were common garments, just linen garments,
unadorned garments, they were holy garments. And our Lord Jesus
Christ, though he was but a man, just a man, the poorest of men,
the most insignificant of men, the most common of men, just
a man, though he was just a man, he was a holy man. His robe of
flesh was a robe of holiness. He was a perfect, righteous man. Thus he was a suitable sacrifice.
That brings me to the next point concerning Aaron. This high priest
who made atonement for others must himself be made holy and
spotless before God. Aaron was not holy and spotless
by nature. He was a sinful man like the
rest. But great care was taken to make him ceremonially holy
and clean before God. Look at verse three. Thus shall
Aaron come into the holy place with a young bullock for sin
offering and a ram for a burnt offering. Verse four, he must
wash his flesh in water. Then we read in verse six. And
Aaron shall offer the bullock of the sin offering, which is
for himself, and make an atonement for himself and for his house. Verse 11, And Aaron shall bring
the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and he
shall make an atonement for himself and for his house, and shall
kill the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself. And he
shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar
before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense, beat and
small, and bring it within the veil. And he shall put incense
upon the fire before the Lord, and the cloud of the incense
may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony that he
die not." Now what happened with Aaron? He bathed his flesh in
water, ceremonially purifying himself. He put on the holy garments,
representing the holiness of Christ Himself, and He made an
atonement for Himself, for He was a sinner and His sin must
be removed. Again, the type is obvious. The
Lord Jesus Christ, our High Priest, is holy. He's holy. Holy, harmless, undefiled, and
separate from sinners. He's God. He's God. Our Savior, when He came into
this world, was born the son of a sinful woman. I think we
stress too much the virgin Mary. She was a virgin. She was a virgin. She was holy
in that she was made holy by God. But she wasn't a bit holier
than my wife is. Or yours. Not by nature. She was a sinful woman. a woman
in need of a Redeemer, a woman in need of a Savior. He was born
the son of a sinful woman who never knew a man. But he never
had any sin, for he didn't have a sinful daddy. His Father is
God! His body was created in the womb
of the Virgin by the Holy Spirit. That holy thing made by God in
the womb of the Virgin came forth in this world in holiness without
any sin. And from the moment that he entered
the virgin's womb and was united to that human flesh, to the moment
that he ascended back into glory, he never knew sin. Never. His eyes never blazed
with anger. His heart was never cold with
malice or hot with wrath. This man was holy. Holy! He never knew sin. The Lord Jesus
Christ, being the Holy One, is able to approach the Holy God.
Only one who had no sin can make atonement for sin. Only one who
is clean can make the unclean clean. And so our Savior, our
great High Priest, is the Holy Priest. And then this atonement
was made by Aaron alone. Look at verse 17. And there shall
be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth
in to make an atonement in the holy place. No one else was present. No one was allowed in the holy
place but Aaron. Aaron alone with God to make
an atonement for the nation. The whole nation. was entrusted
to one representative man. If Aaron succeeds, the nation
lives. If Aaron fails, the nation dies. That's simple. Everything depended
on Aaron. Everything was on his shoulders.
The weight of the nation was in his hands. Everything. Everything
was entrusted to that one man. and nobody was around to assist
him. Moses had men to hold his arms
up when they got weary, but Aaron, while he ministers in the holy
place, has no one to assist him in anything. Again, the picture
is perfectly clear. Our Lord Jesus Christ was totally
alone in his great work of redemption. Don't you think it's striking
that not one of the disciples died with Christ? Not one of
them? Every one of the apostles died
for Christ later. Every one of them died for the
same reason that Christ died, as far as men are concerned,
because men hated the message they preached. Every one of those
men died as followers of Christ later on. But not one of them
died with Christ. He died with two thieves. but
not with a disciple. Why? Because he must be alone
in his work. Lest any should think that Peter
or James or John has anything to do with atonement. Lest anyone
should think that Peter contributed anything or that John or James
contributed anything. He was entirely left alone. Entirely. Turn over to the Psalms. Psalm 69. Psalm 69. Throughout His earthly ministry,
when He was tempted in the wilderness, when His soul was crushed to
heaviness in the garden and gushed out with blood, His Father sent
the holy angels to sustain Him. God the Father served His Son
like He serves us men and women. He ministered to His Son, the
Man, as He ministers to us men upon this earth. He sustained
Him, He strengthened Him. The Son prayed to the Father
and the Father sustained Him. The Son looked to the Father
and trusted Him, just as you and I do, only He did so perfectly.
But when He came to that hour, when He was hung on that cursed
tree, not even God His Father helped Him. Not even God His
Father helped Him. The Son alone accomplished redemption. He cried, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from the
words of my roaring and from helping me? Look here in Psalm
69, verse 20. Our Savior Christ prophetically
reproach hath broken mine heart. I'm full of heaviness. And I looked for some to take
pity, but there was none. and for comforters, but I found
none. He said there wasn't even anybody
around who cared. Wasn't even anybody around who
cared. None to comfort, none to take pity, none to help. Look
in Isaiah 63, Isaiah chapter 63, you have another prophecy
of our Lord's sacrifice. He says in verse 3, I have trodden
the winepress alone. There he is, treading out the
winepress of the fierceness of God's wrath. And of the people
there was none with me, for I will tread them in my anger and trample
upon them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon
my garments, and I will stain all my raiment." Yes. In His sacrifice, He punished
our sins, even as He died for our sins. For He's God, suffering
under the wrath of God for us. Verse 4, For the day of vengeance
is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I
looked, and there was none to help. And I wondered that there
was none to uphold. Therefore mine own arm brought
salvation unto me, and my fury it upheld me, my righteousness
and my judgment it upheld me." That's the priest. He's a humbled priest. He's a
holy priest. He's a solitary priest. Now secondly,
look at the victim. that was slain and sacrificed
to God, verse 5 of Leviticus 16. And he shall take of the congregation
of the children of Israel two kids, two kids of the goats for
a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering, verse 7. And he shall take the two goats
and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation, verse 8. And Aaron shall cast lots upon
the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the
scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's
lot fell and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat on which
the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before
the Lord to make an atonement with him and to let him go for
a scapegoat into the wilderness. Now, we will consider the meaning
of the scapegoat tonight, the Lord willing. Right now, I want
you to get a picture of the goat that was slain as a victim for
the sin offering to God. This goat represents our Lord
Jesus. Christ is our goat, our sin-atoning
high priest. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
one who offers the sacrifice, and he is the sacrifice. He is
the priest and he is the goat. He is our sacrifice, our victim
of the justice, slain and sacrificed to God to make an atonement for
sin. Man's sin against God was an
attack upon God's honor. When Adam sinned in the garden,
he attacked God. Not only is that true, but your
sin and my sin is an attack upon God's honor. Man set himself
up in rebellion against the Almighty. Man opposed divine sovereignty. He mocked divine wisdom and he
despised divine goodness. Every sin of man is an armed
assault against the character and the life of God himself.
Sin is an ugly, hideous attempt by men to rape the holy God and
rob Him of His glorious attributes. It is an attempt by men to murder
God. That's what sin is in its essence.
It is man endeavoring to rape God. That's what it is. What
a man does when he takes a woman and violates her and rapes her,
he takes from her her virginity, that precious thing from her.
And man in his sin attempts to rape God Almighty and rob God
Almighty of His glory. Sin is an attempt by man to rob
God of His sovereign rule, an attempt by man to rob God of
His holy character, an attempt by man to rob God of His life. Oh, if God would ever let us
see what sin is, most hateful, most obnoxious thing in the world.
People joke about sin and make light of sin because they don't
understand what it is. Think the devil is horrible?
Think Satan is some kind of a horrible monster? Sin is what makes Satan
what he is. The sin in your heart and mine,
that's what makes the devil what he is. Exactly so. Now, before
God and man can be reconciled, before God can deal with man
at all except by way of retribution, something has got to be done
to restore God's honor in His creation. This is the reason why our Lord
Jesus came. This is the reason for the incarnation.
Christ Jesus came into this world. to restore God's honor in the
world. That's why He came. You read
Ephesians 1, as Paul describes the grace and mercy of God in
Christ, God's eternal purpose of redemption. Three times over,
he tells us to sow God to be glorified. Three times over. Ezekiel 16, the Lord says, I'll
remember my covenant, and I'll make you remember my covenant,
not for your sake, but for my sake. He said, I'll save you,
not that you might be honored and that you might be pacified,
I'll save you for my name's sake. He saved them, He had mercy on
them for His name's sake, for His glory's sake. Why did the
Son of God come from glory? To restore God's honor in the
world He had made. That's why He came. The Lord
Jesus Christ, by His death as the sinner's substitute, has
fully restored the divine glory here in this world. Since Jesus
Christ died, the just for the unjust, God can be gracious without
violating His justice. He can receive guilty sinners
into fellowship and communion with Himself without marring
the luster and the beauty of a single one of His attributes.
Christ died the representative man. And as such, He has more
fully honored God than sinful man dishonored Him. Though God
is justly angry with Adam's fallen race by reason of sin, God Almighty
in all his holiness is full of tenderness, mercy, and compassion.
He's full of transcendent goodness because of the transcendent goodness
of Christ the second Adam, who by his obedience in life and
his satisfaction in death has magnified the law and made it
honorable. What did Christ do? He honored
God. He honored God. That's what we're
taught in this typical sacrifice of the goat on the day of atonement. An innocent victim died in the
place of the guilty so that God might be just and yet justify
the ungodly. So that God might, in an honorable
way, forgive sin. So that God might, in a just
way, have mercy upon men. Will you hear me? This is why
the Son of God died. This is why he died. God Almighty,
in his holiness, cannot, he cannot, now I choose my words deliberately,
he cannot pardon sin. He cannot have mercy on sinners.
He cannot forgive sin. He can't let you live. God Almighty
cannot let you live until he satisfies his justice. He can't
do it. until he establishes his honor
in the world. The Lord Jesus Christ died, the
Apostle tells us, so that God, the Holy God who said, the soul
that sinneth it shall die, can be just and yet justify the ungodly. He can in justice now justify
every sinner who believes. Because the Son of God died in
the place of the guilty. So the first thing to be noticed
about this victim is the fact that it was a perfect, spotless,
innocent goat of the first year. I'll just hurriedly pass by and
tell you that in fulfillment of this type, the Lord Jesus
was a perfect man, an innocent victim, sacrificed to God in
the prime and vigor of his life. This goat was also an eminent
type of Christ, and that it was taken from among the people.
Look in verse 5. And he shall take of the congregation
of the children of Israel two goats. Why? Turn over to Psalm 89 and I'll
show you. The goat was brought by the people.
It was their common property. The point is just this. The compensation
to God's honor for man's sin has got to come from men. The
compensation for God's honor or to God's honor for man's sin
has got to come from men. It was man who sinned, man's
got to pay. Man broke God's law, man has
got to honor God's law. The Lord Jesus Christ, our substitute,
our sacrifice, was one of us. Bone of our bone, flesh of our
flesh, he was a sacrifice taken from among the people. Look in
Psalm 89, 19. Then thou spakest in a vision
to thy holy one, and since I have laid help upon one that is mighty,
I have exalted one chosen out of the people. Oscar Bailey,
he's just like you. He's just like you. A man. A
man. That's the reason the goat was
taken from among the people. Being a man, Christ was qualified
to perform the obedience required from men and to right the wrongs
done by men. Being God, his obedience and
sacrifice are of infinite value to all his people. And then we
see over here in Leviticus 16 again that the goat was taken
from among the people, but he was chosen and ordained of God. Look in verse 8. Aaron takes the two goats from
among the people, and then he cast lots upon the two goats,
one for the Lord, the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron
shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer
him for a sin offering. These pictures are so simple,
and they're so clear that they hardly need any explanation from
me. Though the Lord Jesus Christ was to be crucified by the wicked
wills of men, though wicked, ungodly, wretched, sinful men
brought the Son of God up to the judgment hall, and they cried,
Crucify Him, Crucify Him, though Judas by his wicked free will
because he was a greedy, covetous man, sold the Son of God for
thirty pieces of silver. He did exactly what he wanted
to do. Though Pilate, because of his cowardice, because of
his weak neediness, because he was a ruler who deserved to be
nothing but a slave, because Pilate was a wimp instead of
a man, because he desired to please the people, this man Pilate
delivered Jesus over into their will by his will. Those Roman
soldiers took him, and they beat him, and they scourged him, and
they spit on him, and they plucked out his beard, and they put a
crown of thorns on his head, and a reed scepter in his hand,
and a mocking robe on his back, and they nailed him to the tree,
and they hung him up to die, and they did it because they
hated God's Son! They did exactly what God from
eternity ordained must be done. Exactly that. Exactly that. Go back in the Scriptures and
read. Judas sold him for 30 pieces of silver. It's prophesied in
the Psalms. They plucked out my beard, prophesied in the Scriptures. They spit on my face, prophesied
in the Scriptures. They pierced me, prophesied in
the Scriptures. All of it. They did exactly what
God from eternity ordained must be done. That's what the picture
is here. This goat was taken from among
the people. They brought him. They brought
him to be sacrificed, but God decided which goat. God had that
lot cast, and it was ordained of God for himself. Now, in order
for this goat to be an acceptable sacrifice, something had to be
brought besides the blood of the goat. Look in verse 11. Aaron shall bring the bullock
for a sin offering which is for himself, and make an atonement
for himself and for his house. and shall kill the bullock of
the sin offering which is for himself, and he shall take a
censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before
the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense, beaten small,
and bring it within the veil." Well, Don, that's talking about
Aaron's offering of the bullock for himself. Yes, but we're told
down in verse 15 that he's got to do exactly the same thing
with the goat that he offers for the people. Aaron had to
take sweet incense, beaten small in his hand, and cast it upon
the live coals from off the altar. And the smell of that sweet perfume
would ascend up before the mercy seat, lest Aaron should die. He comes into the holy place
with blood and with sweet incense. With blood and with sweet incense. Well, what does that mean? Before
God can be satisfied for the evil done against him by the
fall of Adam, before God can be satisfied for our common sins,
there's got to be an offering of sweet, acceptable merit to
him. The offering of incense with
the blood speaks of the merits of Christ's righteousness, his
obedience as our substitute by which God is well pleased. I come before you, my Father,
a sinner, and I bring your blood, the blood
of God Himself, the blood by which my sins are atoned and
put away. I bring the blood of Christ,
God's dear Son, the blood of infinite merit by which justice
is satisfied. By which wrath is vanquished,
by which the sword of justice is swallowed up, by which the
cup of wrath is drained, I bring His blood. But I bring His sweet incense,
His righteousness, His obedience. And with the sweet incense of
His righteousness, And with the blood of His atonement, with
the sweet incense of His righteousness, and the blood of His sacrifice,
I offer Christ unto God for my acceptance. That's it. That's it. That's what's typified
in this sacrifice. The Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior,
came to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin. He brought his hands
full of the merits of his perfect obedience. And his obedience
was a sweet aroma, pleasing to the nostrils of the Holy God. He said, Father, I finished the
work. Now give me the glory you promised. His blood was shed
to remove our sins. His righteousness is imputed to us. It makes us
holy, acceptable, and well-pleasing to God. As in Adam we died, in
Christ we're made alive. One man ruined us, another man
restored us. One man cast us down to hell,
another man lifted us up to heaven. The first man, Adam, dishonored
God, but the second Adam has honored him, and honored him
more than he was dishonored in the beginning. Among all the
things that Christ restored, above all else, he has restored
honor to God in God's creation. The glory of God in redemption.
Now listen to me. The glory of God in redemption
is greater by infinite degree than the dishonor brought upon
God by sin. I fully agree with this statement
by Spurgeon. Let me read it to you and you
listen carefully. God is more honored by the world having sinned
and having been restored by Christ than he could have been if there
had never been sin upon the planet. Why did God allow sin in the
first place? Because he's more honored by
redemption, by sinners forgiven through blood, by sinners redeemed
in Christ Jesus, than he could ever be by men and women living
upon the earth never sinning. After the offering of the sweet
incense, God required the goat must die as a sacrifice for sin. We read in verse 15, And then he shall kill the goat
of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring his blood
within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the
blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before
the mercy seat." Watch the goat. Just a little lamb, less than
a year old. Aaron reaches back and draws
out the dagger and mercilessly slits the goat's throat. The little goat kicked and struggled
for life for a few minutes, maybe. You ever been to a slaughterhouse? I was in school in Missouri.
Friends of mine worked in a slaughterhouse. They'd slit the throats of those
cattle and the throats of those sheep and the throats of those
hogs. They'd kick and jerk. The blood would gush out, just
gush out. That's what happened with this
goat. Aaron murdered the goat. He killed the goat. He plunged
the dagger into the goat's throat and the blood just gushed out
as he struggled in death. Aaron caught the blood in the
pan. and took it into the holy place
at the mercy seat. Here's our Savior. The Father's
vengeful sword pierced His heart. I can't describe it. I describe His physical pains,
and that's the best I can do. And that hasn't come near. It
hasn't come near describing it. If I could act it out for you
here on the stage, if I could act it out in a play, show it
to you in a movie, you stout-hearted men would sit out there and weep
and sob like babies. But when I tell you the truth,
it doesn't do a thing to move your heart. Why? Because you're sentimentalist,
but you're dead. That's why. That's why. Spiritually dead. Our Lord Jesus
Christ hangs before His Father, a sacrifice for sin. And the
Father draws out the sword of justice and stabs His Son to
death. He cries, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Why me? The soldiers pressed the crown
of thorns in his brow, drove the spikes through his hands
and through his feet, and the blood flowed down his body. His back was lacerated to the
bone were exposed and his flesh was torn, a beaten, hideous-looking
monster of a man hanging there. And at last he died. And then
one of the soldiers came and took a spear and shoved it into the heart of the
Son of God. And the blood gushed out. Gushed
out. His life's blood gushed out.
And a fountain is opened for the cleansing of sin, in which
sinners to this day are washed and made clean before God. That's the sacrifice of the Lamb. Why, why, why did the Son of
God die? One reason, one reason. Justice
must be vindicated. Something more is required than
the sweet incense of Christ's life. The penalty has got to be paid. Man must die. Either man must
die or God's justice must die. Either man must die or God must
give up his rule of the universe. Either man must die or Satan
wins the day. He toppled God's throne when
he persuaded Adam to sin, for he told Adam, you will not surely
die. Either man must die under the
wrath of God, satisfying the justice of God. A sin atonement
must be made. Our God must cease to be God,
and the moral government of the universe be toppled, God's throne
be overturned. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
comes. And it is not the multitude of
sinners that dies. It's not the nation that died,
but the innocent victim for the nation. And our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lamb of God, came into this world so that not His people,
but Himself should die. And Him having died in our stead,
His people must go free. For now justice is completely
satisfied. The sacrifice of our Lord Jesus
was of infinite merit. We don't have anything to defend
in this point. People say, well, you don't believe
the blood of Christ is sufficient to wash away the sins of the
world. You never heard me say that.
My detractors never heard me say such a thing. If Jesus Christ
saved one man, 50 men, or all men, his sacrifice would be the
same. He's got to satisfy infinite
justice with the infinite merits of His infinite blood offered
with the merits of His infinite righteousness. The point is this. He wasn't trying to redeem the
world. This goat was not offered for
the nations of the world. The nations of the world died
without even knowing this goat ever lived. This goat was offered
for Israel, only for Israel. only for those people whose names
were inscribed upon Aaron's breastplate, only for those people for whom
Aaron was a high priest. And our Lord Jesus Christ offered
the infinite merits of His infinite atonement to put away the sins
of a particular people, even His own elect, those who believe
on Him. Those are one and the same, you
know, His elect and those who believe. And by that one sacrifice,
He put away our sins. He put away our sins. People
say, well, I couldn't possibly believe in a particular atonement,
a limited atonement. Yeah, you do. Everybody believes
in limited atonement. Everybody does. I believe that
God's atonement made by his Son is limited in its design and
its efficacy to a particular people. He has put away our sins,
he's ransomed our souls, he got the job done. Those who deny
that believe his atonement is limited in power, limited in
efficacy, limited in ability. For they say he died for all
men, even for men whom he failed to redeem. Our Lord Jesus Christ
shed his blood for a particular people. His blood is of infinite
merit, and his blood is an effectual atonement for sin. There's one
more thing. The blood of this slain goat
had to be taken within the veil. Here goes Aaron. He's got the
blood in a pan, and he's got a censer with incense and live
coals from off the altar. He's backing into the holy place. He turns and he puts the incense
on the fire. He takes the blood and atonement is made. God's glory appears! And God
by His appearance, without killing Aaron, declares that he's satisfied. That's what Christ did. He arose. And he spreads his hands before
the Father. And though he does not offer
literal blood, my soul, don't be so silly. He offers the merits
of his full atonement. And he sits down. God said that's enough. That's
enough. Atonement is made. Atonement
is made. May the Lord bless His Word to
your heart. Come back tonight and we'll look at the scapegoat
and the results of this day of atonement and the act of faith.