Hebrews chapter 10, if you want
to turn there with me for a few minutes. Hebrews chapter 10. I want us
to look at two verses. We'll look at the book of Hebrews,
but I want us to look at two verses. In Hebrews chapter 10
and verses 11 and 12 and 13, these three verses. And every priest under the old
dispensation, the Levitical priesthood, Aaron and all his descendants.
They stand daily, ministering and offering, oft times, the
same sacrifices which can never take away sin. But this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool. one more verse, for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. The book
of Hebrews is written to show the great distinction, the great
distinction between Jesus Christ and all others, Moses and angels
and Aaron and to show a distinction in His person and show a distinction
in His work and His sacrifices. He's better, He's greater than
all the sacrifices that were ever offered before Him. The
Apostle continually uses this word and this name, Jesus, in
the book of Hebrews. I want to read some places to
you. He does this because he's seeking to set forth Jesus Christ,
the man. Often in the Scriptures you read
connected to the name of Jesus, the Lord. or Jesus Christ, or
the Lord Jesus Christ. In the book of Hebrews you often
see this name by itself, Jesus. And he does that to identify
him as a man, as a person, this man. In chapter 2 he said we
see Jesus. He was made and little lower
than the angels for the suffering of death. crowned with glory
and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for
every man. In chapter 4 verse 14, 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 profession.
Whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made that
high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Chapter
6 verse 20. 722, By so much was Jesus made
the surety of a better covenant. 1019, Having therefore brethren
boldest to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. 1220, Looking unto Jesus the
author and finisher of our faith. 1224, And to Jesus the mediator
of the new covenant, and the blood of sprinkling that speaketh
better things than that of Abel, 13 and 12. Wherefore Jesus also,
that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered
without the gate." So you see that He is setting forth a man,
the lowly Savior, Jesus in His manhood. His name shall be called
Jesus in His humanity. And by using this name, He identifies
the Son of God in His humanity. Jesus Christ is and was when
He was upon this earth a real man, a real man. He had a real body that God had
prepared Him in the womb of a virgin and He had a real soul, Jesus
the man. In His humanity He was unique,
He was different and He was better and He was more glorious than
all the elect angels. People used to worship angels
back in these days. He was better than Moses. He
was better than Joshua. He was better than Aaron and
all the priests. And His sacrifice was better
than all of the animal sacrifices that went before Him. That's
what the book of Hebrews is going to prove that Jesus Christ in
His manhood was better than all others. In chapter 1, He often
talks about this man. I read it to you here in verse
12, but this man. And you often see that in the
book of Hebrews, this man. In chapter 3, speaking of Moses,
this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, this man. And then 7, verse 23, he's speaking
of Christ being better than the priest. He said, There were truly
many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason
of death. But this man, because he continueth
forever, hath that unchangeable priesthood. And then in chapter
8, verse 3, he's talking about this man having a better sacrifice
than the sacrifice of animals. He said, Every high priest is
ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices unto God, wherefore it is of
necessity that this man have somewhat to offer. This man. He was a real man. And then in
chapter 12, Jesus and His sacrifice is better than the priest and
their sacrifices. Here in chapter 10, I just read
to you. And verses 11 and 12. He says, Here there are many
of them There are many priests, but only one of Him. They offered
many sacrifices and offered them many times, but He offered one
sacrifice forever. They were always standing because
their work was never finished, but here in this verse, He is
distinctly different than they are. When He offered His sacrifice,
He sat down. So see how much better this man
is than all the other sacrifices. In chapter one, now listen to
this, if you don't know much about the book of Hebrews, you
read it and you can see he kept saying, he's better, he's better,
he's better than the angels. Chapter one, he said this, to
which of the angels said God at any time, set on my right
hand until I make your enemies your footstool. He never said
that to the angels, did he? He said it to Christ. Christ
is better than the angels. In chapter 3, He's better than
Moses. The scripture says Moses was
faithful in all his house as a servant. Moses was a servant
in his house, but Christ as a son over his house. Moses was just
a servant. Christ is the son. Remember those
Pharisees said that we're Moses' disciples? That one old blind
man said, I'm Christ's disciple. Christ is better than Moses,
isn't He? He's better than Moses. You know Moses never got the
children of Israel out of the wilderness, did he? He never
even got out of the wilderness himself. But Christ has delivered
His people, the man Christ Jesus. And in chapter 4, he's better
than Joshua, the writer here proves. Joshua never gave the
children of Israel rest. That's what the 4th chapter of
Hebrews teaches us. If Joshua would have given them rest, he
wouldn't have spoken of another day of rest. But he said, In
Jesus Christ there is rest. Those which have believed enter
into rest. So Moses could not get the children
of Israel out of the wilderness into the promised land. Joshua
got them out, but when he got them out, they had no rest. But
they that believe in Christ finished work. They do enter into rest. And then in chapter 7, He is
better than the priest and the Levitical sacrifices. He said
in chapter 7, those priests were made without an oath. But this
with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and
will not repent, thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. By so much was Jesus made the
surety of a better covenant. He is better, isn't he? Better
than Moses, better than Joshua, better than Aaron, better than
all the sacrifices. In chapter 8, the ministry of
Jesus Christ is better than the ministry of the priest. They
had an earthly ministry. They ministered about earthly
things in an earthly tabernacle. They entered into that earthly
tabernacle, but Jesus Christ has a better ministry. He ministers
about spiritual things. He ministers about heavenly blessings. The Bible says He is the minister
of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched
and not man. Now look at chapter 8. Look at
chapter 8 of Hebrews. Let me slow down a minute and
look at this. Verse 1, Now the things which
we have spoken, this is the Son. We have a great high priest,
we have such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the
throne of the majesty in the heavens. a minister of the sanctuary
and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. Look over in chapter 9 and look
in verse 24. Look at this. For Christ is not
entered into the holy places made with hands, which are only
figures of the truth, but into heaven itself, now to appear
in the presence of God for us. He has a better ministry, doesn't
he? Because he ministers about spiritual things. He's not in
a physical tabernacle like the old priest was, but he's in heaven
itself. Where's Jesus Christ at right
now? He's in the presence of God, isn't He? And what's He
doing there? He's ministering for us. Who is He that condemns? It's
Christ that died. Yea, brother, that's risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercessions
for you. I don't know of a more encouraging
aspect to think about for us to seek the Lord in prayer than
to know that we have a mediator, a high priest on the right hand
of God. He's seated there ministering for us. Sometimes read Revelation
chapter 8 and verses 1 through 3 and see what a blessing that
is that the angel is sitting there in God's presence and that
angel is Christ. And it says He has this sweet
incense that He puts on the prayers of the saints and He presents
it to God. That's encouragement, isn't it?
Encouragement to pray. When you feel like your prayers
are so sinful, You have one there. Put in His obedience, His sweet
incense upon your prayer. So we have one there in His presence.
In chapter 9, what He offers and how He offers is better than
what the priest ever offered. Look in chapter 9 and look in
verse 9. Look at this. Talking about the
old tabernacle that Moses built and Solomon built, which was
a figure for the time then present and 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 on them until the time of reformation. But Christ, this
man, being come and high priest of good things to come, by 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 goats and the ashes of that heifer, sprinkling
the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, 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? And for this cause
He is the mediator of a new covenant, that by means of His death, for
the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant,
they which are called might receive the promise of eternity. inheritance. So he's better, isn't he? He's
better. Why is he better? Because of
who he is. Because of who he is. You say, Bruce, you said
he was a man. He is a man. But he's more than
a man, isn't he? He was a prophet. That prophet. But he's more than a prophet.
He was warned of a woman. He was tempted in all points.
And yet, here's the difference. He had no sin. He was born of
a fallen woman, but He was born without a corrupt nature. He
is a man, the man Christ Jesus. But here's what makes Him different
than all the others. He's the God-man. He's the God-man. Look here in Hebrews chapter
1 right quickly. Look in Hebrews chapter 1. I
started right opposite what the Hebrew writer did. I started
over in Hebrews 10 talking about this man, the man Christ Jesus. And then we went to who He was
and His divinity. He is the God-man. But the Hebrew
writer starts right from the beginning and tells us who He
was. Look what he says in Hebrews chapter 1 and look in verse 1. God who at sundry times, different
times and in various manners, diverse manner, spake in time
fast unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who bring the brightness
of his glory, and the expressed image of his person." That word,
expressed image, means the exact image. He is God, isn't He? If you've seen Me, you've seen
the Father. And He's upholding all things by the Word of His
power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, set down on
the right hand of the Majesty on high. And look what He says
in verse 8. He says in verse 7, And unto
the angels He maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a
flame of fire. But unto the Son, He saith, Thy
throne, O God, is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness,
is the scepter of thy kingdom." He's God, isn't He? He's God. As a man, He could be tempted.
As a man, He could weep and cry and fear and bleed. And as the God-man, He could
atone. He could put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. So he's different, isn't he?
He's better. He's better. Why worship angels? Why worship
angels? And people do. People worship
angels. Make statues of them and worship them. We've got somebody
better than angels. That's the man Christ Jesus.
Why talk about being Moses' disciple? Moses can't deliver you. Moses
was just a servant. Christ is a son. Joshua can't
give you rest. The Jews are still looking back
on Joshua. He never gave them rest. Jesus
can give you rest for your soul. He's better, isn't He? All the
sacrifices the priest offered. Brother Larry told me a while
back he saw a Jew, I guess he must have saw him on a computer
or something, offering a chicken for a sacrifice. A chicken for
a sacrifice. You might as well offer a chicken
if you're going to offer a blood sacrifice today because nothing
will take away sins but the blood of Christ. Why would you offer
any sacrifices to atone for sin when the Son of God is already
atoned for sins when He died upon Calvary's tree? We need
nothing, do we? We should desire nothing but
Him. He is better than everything
and nothing is to be compared to Him. And he says here in our text
in verse 13 of chapter 10, that he seated at the right hand of
God from henceforth expecting until his enemies be made his
footstool. His enemies be made his footstool. When he finished his work, the
man crossed Jesus, he went up to heaven, and he sat down on
the right hand of God, And he sat in there until all his enemies
are made his footstool. Now how does Jesus, this man,
make his enemies his footstool? This is very exciting. He does
it in two ways. One, he defeats them. One, he
destroys them. He absolutely destroys them.
They had a habit in the Old Testament Kings used to do this. Alexander
the Great did this. Titus did this when he overthrew
Jerusalem in A.D. 70. You remember when those five
kings were fighting against Israel and Joshua defeated them, put
them in a cave until he whipped the other nations and brought
them out of the cave, those five great kings. He made them lay
down on the ground and he brought his generals and said, put your
feet on their necks. And that was saying, we've defeated
these men. And then they removed their feet
and Joshua cut their heads off. He smote them. That's the way
the Lord Jesus will defeat many of his enemies. He says, bring
here my enemies that would not that I should reign over them
and slay them before me. Isn't that an awful thing to
think about? That's an awful thing if you're lost to think
that the Savior, this man that came here and preached peace
and did everything that was needful for salvation, now He's going
to destroy you? That's fearful, isn't it? That's
fearful. Spurgeon used to say this. He
said, If men won't be saved by Christ, they'll be damned by
Christ. We either must be saved by Him or be damned by Him, but
we will have to do with the Son of God. And this is one of the
ways that He makes His enemies His footstool, by putting His
foot on their necks and saying to His angels, carry them away
and cast them out of darkness. But thank God there's another
way, too, that He makes His enemies His footstool. He subdues them
and makes them His friends. This is what the meaning of reconciliation
is, when we were His enemies. We were reconciled to God, how? By the death of His Son. You
were His enemy, weren't you? I was His enemy. We were enemies
in our minds by wicked works. But what has He done? He's not
destroyed us, but He subdued us, graciously and mercifully
subdued us. Sometimes you can look at these
two scriptures, you can mark them down, or you can remember
them in your head. 2 Chronicles chapter 9 and 1
Kings chapter 10, this tells about Solomon building the temple. And inside that beautiful temple
he built a throne. And he built this whole throne,
this one solid piece, out of pure gold and ivory. It had a
huge seat that Solomon sat on and it had the armrest where
he could rest his arms, and on either side of that throne were
two huge lions. They had made them out of ivory
and gold. It had six steps coming up to
the throne. On the end of every step there
was a lion, twelve lions coming up those steps. And this whole
throne showed to us the deity of Christ. It showed His strength
and His power and His durability. He was a priest on His throne
because the throne was in the temple. And yet He was on the
throne so He was the King. I love what Zechariah said about
Him. He shall be a priest on His throne. They never had any
such thing, did they? But Jesus is the King-priest. And that's what this throne represented.
But there was something else on that throne. There was a footstool. And it was a part of that throne. And what this teaches us is that
Jesus Christ's people that He has graciously subdued is one
with Him. The footstool is one with the
throne. I love what He said when He was
praying that high priestly prayer over in John chapter 17. He said,
Father, I pray, I pray for them who shall believe on Me through
their word, listen to this, that they may be one as thou, Father,
in me, and I in thee, that they may be one in us." Jesus Christ
has so completely reconciled His people to Himself that He
is one with them. This is what Hebrews chapter
2 says, For both he that sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified are
all of one. for which cause he's not ashamed
to be called their brethren." Unity! That's a wonderful truth
of the Scriptures, isn't it? You are one with the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's in heaven today, exalted
above all worlds, and yet He is one with His people. Hasn't He subdued you? Hasn't
He done it? That remnant of rebellion that
you feel in you sometimes, Aren't you glad that in spite of what
you feel, you're still one with Jesus Christ? He's reconciled
you by His blood, and now in conversion, in regeneration,
He subdued your stubborn will and your affections, and you're
one with Him. Listen to this old song enclosed
by Joseph Hart. He speaks to this end about this
man. A man there is, a real man. with wounds still gaping wide
from which rich streams of blood once ran in his hands and his
feet and his side. Tis not while fancy of our brains,
no metaphor we speak, the same dear man in heaven now reigns
that suffered for our sake. This wondrous man of whom we
tell is true and mighty God. He bought our souls from death
and hell the price of His own blood. The human heart He still
retains, though exalted on highest bliss, and fills each tempted
member's pain, for our afflictions His. Come then, repentant sinner,
come, approach with humble faith. Oh, what thou wilt, the total
sum, is counseled by His death. His blood has cleansed the blackish
soul. His blood can cleanse the blackish
soul and wash our guilt away. He shall present us sound and
whole in that tremendous day. This man has so reconciled us
to God. We are one. We are one in Him. And you know, brothers and sisters,
the more we learn about Him, the more we realize We don't
need anything but Him. This is more about Jesus, what
I know. More of His saving love to others
show. That's all we need, isn't it?
All we need. Find yourself complete in Him,
and oh, you'll be a happy Christian. You'll be a happy Christian.
What all of these sacrifices and men and offices couldn't
do before, Jesus Christ did in the days of His flesh. The Lord
bless His Word. Brother Baker, would you dismiss?