When Brother Joe was reading
from Psalm 24, the scripture was such a blessing to me, who
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand
in his holy place? And this is the description of
everyone that stands before the Lord. He that hath clean hands
and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
nor sworn deceitfully. Do you know anybody like that? In Christ, that's me. Isn't that
wonderful? In Christ, that's me. I've never sworn deceitfully.
I've never lifted up my soul to vanity. I've got clean hands
and a pure heart. In the Lord Jesus Christ. What
a blessed, blessed thing. I sure don't feel that way, but
I am. That's how God sees me. And if
God sees me that way, you know what? That's how I am. Now would
you turn to Hebrews chapter 9. Verse 7, but into the second,
speaking of the Holy of Holies, went the high priest alone once
every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself
and for the heirs of the people, the Holy Ghost signifying that
the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while
as the first tabernacle was yet standing, talking about the tabernacle
with the two rooms and all the furniture, which was a figure,
a picture for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts
and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service
perfect as pertaining to the conscience, which stood only
in meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances
imposed upon them into the time of reformation. 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 A picture of a loved one is a great
blessing. Don't you like to look at pictures
of the people that you love? And they serve a valuable purpose.
But a picture is not the person himself. You cannot have a relationship
with a picture. You cannot speak with a picture
and have it reply to you. You cannot be married to a picture. The picture, as beautiful as
it may be, has no life at all and cannot save. Now, the tabernacle
and all associated with it was a beautiful picture of Christ,
but it was just that, a picture. without life, and incapable of
doing anything. You see, a picture can't keep
the law. A picture cannot atone for sin. A picture cannot make
intercession. The law was a figure, a picture,
which was a figure, verse 9, for the time and in which were
offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that
did the service perfect or complete as pertaining to the conscience.
In all the things that the law did, it never satisfied anybody's
conscience. When that blood of a bull or
a goat was shed, no one ever really believed that that satisfied
God. The conscience still could not
possibly be satisfied by that. You see, the only thing the conscience
can be satisfied with is to not have anything to be guilty about.
And in Christ, I do not have anything to be guilty about.
That description in Psalm 24, clean hands and a pure heart,
and has never lifted up his soul to vanity nor sworn deceitfully.
In Christ, that's me. That's me. That's every believer.
And that's the only thing that satisfies my conscience, that
I don't have anything to feel guilty about. My blood, my sin
was put away by God. And His righteousness is mine. And I come into His presence
with boldness, with confidence, knowing this is me in Christ. You take faith to believe that,
don't you? Because it seems too good to be true, doesn't it?
It takes faith to believe that. But by His grace, I believe that
I'm without thought before Him. And my conscience is satisfied
by what He did. I've got a clear conscience in
that sense. It's satisfied by what He did. In verse 10, We read that these
pictures stood only in meats and drinks and divers' washings
and, look what he calls them, carnal ordinances imposed upon
them into the time of Reformation. I think that's interesting that
he actually calls all these things of the law carnal, fleshly ordinances. As a matter of fact, in verse
1 of this same chapter, he calls it a worldly sanctuary. Now,
worldly is not a compliment. It's a worldly sanctuary. It's
a fleshly sanctuary. There's no saving power. There's
no saving efficacy in any of these things. As a matter of
fact, these rules were imposed upon them. And isn't that what
the law does? It's imposed upon you. And you don't feel any liberty. This imposition, as it were.
imposed upon them into the time of Reformation, the time when
everything's going to be straightened out and people will see Christ
as he is. Verse 11, But Christ, being come
an high priest of good things to come, the priest after the
order of Melchizedek, he's the true tabernacle. John
1.14 says the Word was made flesh and tabernacled among us. This is the true tabernacle.
And I love this phrase, good things to come. It's an exciting
phrase. And what good things to come
there are. No more sin. I'm going to be
without sin. I'm going to be without unbelief.
I'm going to be perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
That's good things to come, isn't it? I'm going to have a glorified
body. I'm going to be in the very presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I'm going to see His face with
no unbelief to dim my view. Not looking at me at all. Worship. Worship. Oh, what good things
to come indeed there are. In the context, he's talking
about the blessings of the new covenant, the good things to
come that the law could never produce. Look back at chapter
8. Verse 10. For this is the covenant
that I'll make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I'll put my laws into their mind and write them in
their hearts. That's a reference to what he
does when he gives somebody a new nature. He says, I'll be to them
a God. I'm going to be for them. And
they shall be to me a people. They're going to be for me. And
they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me from the
least to the greatest. I'm going to teach them and they're
going to know me. To actually know God. For I, verse 12, will
be merciful, I will be propitious, I will be appeased regarding
their unrighteousness. I'm not going to have a reason
to be mad at them. The unrighteousness, I'm going
to be appeased because the blood of my son puts it away. I don't
have a reason to be mad at him. Therefore, there are sins and
iniquities. Well, I remember no more. Are those worse things?
Are those good things to come? Verse 11, but Christ being come
and high priesthood, good things to come by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle. Not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building. Christ Jesus Himself is the tabernacle. He's not some created, man-made,
worldly sanctuary. He is the uncreated Son of God,
and He Himself is the tabernacle. Verse 12, neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered in once
into the holy place. Not just that tent, which had
the Shekinah glory representing God's presence, but he comes
into the very presence of God himself, that holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us. Now, he didn't come bringing
the blood of goats and calves, but he came with his own blood
as he entered this holy place. Now, this blood is utterly No
other blood would do. Acts chapter 20 verse 28 says,
feed the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. Did you hear that? Feed the church
of God which he purchased with his own blood. This is the blood
of the God man. Utterly unique. I think of that
passage of Scripture in Romans 8, verse 34, where Paul says,
Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. What if
it said, Who is he that condemneth? It's Todd that died. How good
would that be? Absolutely none. But this is
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's Christ that died. This is the blood that actually
pays the sin debt and the blood that actually satisfies the living
God. His own blood, personal, not
the blood of somebody else. I love to think of this entering
in into the holy place. And he comes, the Old Testament
priest, the only part of the blood is somebody else. They
brought a gift representing somebody else, but he comes in with his
own blood. He comes in with his own righteousness, presenting
it to the Father. It was personal. And this blood
speaks of substitution. Why was his blood shed? Because
he was the substitute for sinners. The sins of God's elect became
his. He took my place. He became sin. God's wrath came down upon him.
And he put it away. His blood was substitutionary.
I love to think of him presenting this blood to the father. And
when he presented it, I don't know how you go about doing that,
but he did it. And when he presented this blood
to the father, the father was satisfied with me. He said, I can ask for no more. Now, that's the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ by his own blood. He entered in once into
the holy place. This blood was transcendent of
infinite value, surpassing others in excellence. It satisfied God. And it made God, the holy God,
the glorious God, the sin-hating God, the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ made Him look me over, Todd Garber. And I know a little
bit about what I am. It made Him look me over through
and through and say, I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied. He's perfect in
my sight. Now that's what the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ does. And this blood has reference
to guilt. That's why I was shed. My guilt
became his. And this blood was shed not for
you. This blood was shed for God. Now understand this. For God to do something for me
or you, he first had to do something for himself. That blood was shed
for God, not for me, for God. Now, I'm the beneficiary of it,
but God did this to satisfy himself. He, by his own blood, entered
in once to that holy place, the true holy of holies, the presence
of God. And I love the way it says once.
Once and only once in the most full and complete manner. He
entered in once. Not making eternal redemption
possible. Look what it says in 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 for us. Once for all. This is something
that is already completed. You know what that means? It
means I got it. I got it. I have it. Look at Hebrews chapter
10, verse 9. Then said he, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second, by the which will, by God's will,
we are sanctified. Holy, declared by God Himself
to be holy. We are sanctified. We're not
treated as if we were sanctified. We are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Perfectly completed, never to
be repeated. Now, I love to think of this
majestic inference. Obviously, this goes beyond the
ability of human language to describe. What's he doing there
as he enters into the very presence of God with his own blood? Look
in Hebrews 9, verse 23. It was therefore necessary that
the patterns, the pictures of things in heavens, should be
purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with
better sacrifices than these, as far as blood of bulls and
goats. For Christ is not entered into the holy place made with
hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven
itself now to appear in the presence of God for us." He entered to give us the same
nearness of access that he has. Now, you think of that. Jesus Christ comes into the Father's
presence and the Father embraces him. The Father sees him as altogether
lovely, as altogether glorious, as altogether beautiful, as perfect. And he has nearness of access. There's nothing about the Lord
Jesus Christ that would make the Father want to hold him off.
No, he embraces him as the altogether lovely one. And you know what?
Every believer has the same nearness of access that Christ himself
has. You believe that? Ephesians 3.12 says, In whom? In whom? We have boldness and
access with confidence by the faith of him." Turn with me to
Hebrews chapter 4. I want to look at a couple passages
of scriptures in Hebrews. The last part of verse 13 says,
"...all things are naked, and open unto the eyes of him with
whom we have to do. You know what? That doesn't scare
me. Used to scare me to think of the Lord seeing me as I am,
but he sees me as I am in Christ. I am perfect. And that's how
he sees me. And that doesn't scare me a bit.
As a matter of fact, it gives me some confidence. That's how
he sees me. And how God sees things is how
they really are. Now, let's go on reading. Seeing
then that we have a great high priest. that is passed into the
heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
losing all points, tempted like as we are, yet without sin, let
us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we
may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Turn
to Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 19, having therefore, brethren, boldness,
confidence to enter into the what? Holiest, the true presence
of God. How? By the blood of Jesus. by a new and living way which
he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his
flesh. And having an 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 and our bodies
washed with pure water." He entered once into this holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption. And there's three things that
I want to focus on. Number one, redemption. Number two, eternal. And number
three, he obtained it. Redemption, eternal and having
obtained it. Let's begin with redemption.
What does the word mean? It's in the Bible so many times.
What does the word actually mean? Well, there are two ideas involved
in this word. It's literally released upon
the payment of a ransom. That's what the word means. A
release. Being set free upon a payment. So the idea is there's a payment
involved. Our Lord's death on the cross
was a payment. It was a ransom, and in that
payment we are set free. You see, God's law, God's character,
God's justice must be honored. The law says the soul that's
in it shall surely die. Where there is sin, there must
be death. God would not be God if he would
just let sin go unpunished. Wherever there is sin, there
must be death. If I have sin, God must kill
me. Do you believe that regarding
God? If so, if I have sin, God must
kill me. adorable, sovereign mercy, took
my sin, and Christ Jesus bore it in his own body on the tree. And he became guilty. God punished him. And his perfect
obedience becomes mine. Now, that's what redemption means. And here's what comes from redemption.
Turn to Romans chapter 3. Hold your finger there in Hebrews
9. Turn to Romans chapter 3. Verse 23, For all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God being justified. What's that next word? Freely. without a cause in me or you,
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus." Now, here's what redemption has done.
It's made everybody that Christ died for justified, not guilty. That's me. That's every believer. That's the blessing of redemption.
It makes me justified before God. It is a wonderful thing
to be justified. Oh, I love to tell this story
of Christ's redeeming blood. Makes me justified. I've got
no guilt. You know, I said this a couple
of weeks ago, I feel guilty constantly. But I have nothing to feel guilty
about. I am justified by what my Lord did on the cross. Now
do you see what redemption means? It's a payment. And I'm set free. I'm released. All my sin is put
away. That's what's meant by the word
redemption. Now let's consider this next word. This next word
is eternal. He obtained eternal. Eternal,
eternal redemption for us. Now, everything God does is eternal. Everything. That's who He is. Eternal means that there's never
a time when it was not. And there will never be a time
when it is not. Eternal redemption. The redeemed
have never been viewed independent of Christ's eternal redemption. He's called the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Turn with me for a moment to
2 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 9. and called us with an holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. And does that include redemption?
Was redemption given us in Christ Jesus before the world began?
Of course it was. Every blessing God has to give was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. You see, he said to Jeremiah,
before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. I loved thee. Everything that I have in Christ
Jesus is eternal. I don't understand that. I mean,
I know that I was born lost. And I was born a rebel. And I
was born with no love for God. And I was not saved. I must have
lost all hope. I was, as far as I could tell,
I was under the wrath of God, as far as what God had in store
for me. But I also know this. I don't understand how God could
be savior true, but there has never been a time when I've been
viewed by God independently of His Son. I've always been accepted
in the beloved. The elect have always been the
elect. There's never been a time when
they were not the elect. There has never been a time when there
was not love by God, chosen by God, redeemed in the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Now, that's secure, isn't it?
That is flat-out secure. Doesn't get any more secure than
that. Eternal redemption. You know,
this is actually one of the foundational proofs of the Scripture. Remember
down in Hebrews chapter 6 when it talks about eternal judgment? This
judgment being eternal, having always been, always will be.
We read in Hebrews 5, 9 of eternal salvation. Everything God does
is eternal. Now, we can't get hold of that.
I realize that. I mean, we're creatures of time,
and we're stuck in time. And even the thought of eternity,
you know, when I talk about eternity past and eternity future, that's
a denial of what eternity is, really. I mean, it's all there. God, there's no yesterday. There's no tomorrow. It's all
present with Him. One day with the Lord is as a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. But everything
God does is eternal. He came to obtain this eternal
redemption for us. Now, here's the last word I want
to think about. He obtained it. He obtained it. Your sin is a grief to you. It's a grief to you. But you
know what? It's already been redeemed, and
it's already been put away. Even the sins that you haven't
committed yet, He has already obtained this eternal redemption. Now, He did what He came to do.
What did He come to do? He came to save His people from
their sins. Did He do it? Absolutely. He obtained eternal
redemption for us. And because of this, every good
thing to come is ours. Ephesians 1 verse 3 says, He
hath blessed us. Get that word, hath. Not He will
or we're going to have it. He hath blessed us with all the
spiritual blessings and heavenly blessings in Christ. Every blessing
that God has to give, I possess. Every one of them. Can't get
any more loved, can't get any more accepted, can't get any
more saved than I am right now in the Lord Jesus Christ, because
my Redeemer hath obtained eternal redemption for me. Now, all of
God's blessings, I think, I'm going to stand before God in
judgment. And I'm not worried about any
sins after being a believer, being brought up. You know why?
Because I don't have any. They've all been washed away.
I'm going to stand before God in judgment, and I'm going to
be justified. He's going to say to me, and
I'm not just talking about me, I'm talking about every believer.
This is something you can just get hold of by faith. He's going
to say to me, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou in to the joy of my
Lord. Now, can you imagine hearing
him say that to you? I mean, do you? And he's going to say it because
you did do well. United to Christ, you had clean
hands. And if your heart, you'd never
lifted up your soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully perfect
in Christ Jesus, all the good things to come. being in heaven,
worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ, being with you and seeing you
as you are, seeing you as I see you all the time, perfect in
Christ without fault. Now, that is a those are indeed
good things to come. Now, as we observe the Lord's
table. In his broken body, the bread,
we see what payment he made. He was broken under the wrath
of God. In the wine, we see the redemption
he obtained for us, and we have been set free. Now, as the Lord enables us,
I remember as a young person particularly, I kind of dreaded
the Lord's Table because I never felt worthy. And that passage
of scripture always scared me to death. If you eat and drink
unworthily, you know, this causes me to be weak and sickly among
you. You fail to discern the Lord's
body. And I always did. I mean, am I worthy? And when
I thought something like that, I was proving that I didn't really
understand what the Lord's Table is all about. When I'm taking
the Lord's Table, I'm not looking to see if my life is good enough
to make it to where I am. can take it. No, I see that my
Redeemer accomplished salvation for me and that I am redeemed,
that I stand perfect because of his broken body and his shed
blood. And we're doing this in remembrance
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said this do in remembrance
of me. And what a blessing to take this
table and know I'm not guilty before God. I'm perfect before
God. I'm without sin before God. Isn't it wonderful for us to
be able to do this together? You know, I think one of the
glorious things about the Lord's Table, you don't take it alone. You take it with
his people, with his body, with his bride. Now, who can take
the Lord's Table? I got a letter from a dear lady
just this week asking me, what qualifications you had to have
before you could take the Lord's table and so on and just a bunch
of different things. What is the one requirement to
take the Lord's table? Faith in Christ. If you believe
the gospel, you are commanded to take the Lord's table. Now,
I've heard people say with reference to baptism, you ought not take
the Lord's table if you haven't been baptized. Now, if you haven't
been baptized and you're a believer, you ought to be. Baptism is your
public confession of Christ. You ought to be baptized. What
are you waiting for? Don't wait any longer. Get that
taken care of. If you haven't confessed Christ
in baptism, be baptized, confess it. But baptism is not the condition
for the Lord's table. There's only one condition, faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you believe that he obtained
eternal redemption? Are you relying upon him? Then the Lord's table is for
you. Everybody who believes. That's
the only qualification. And may God give us grace truly
to do this in remembrance of Him.