me to Hebrews 10, our subject this morning, one
sacrifice for sins. I'm delighted to repeat a truth
that has been sounded from this pulpit hundreds and hundreds
of times. There's one sacrifice for sins. And I offer no apology for being
so repetitious. To me, as Paul said in Philippians
3, it's not tiresome. To you, it is most profitable. And to our Father in Heaven,
it is most pleasing. He takes pleasure in his Son
and in those who honor his Son. The scripture said, he who honors
the Son, the Father will honor. I'm never satisfied with the
way that I preach the gospel, but I'm fully satisfied with
the gospel that I preach. We're never happy with the way
we present it, but we are completely happy with the gospel which we
present. And I believe that should I and
all the elders who preach for you, preach Sunday morning, Sunday
night, and Wednesday night, nothing but Christ and Him crucified,
that we would be good ministers of our Lord. Paul said that to
the Corinthians. He said, I determined not to
know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
So here in Hebrews chapter 10, I'd like to begin with verse
11. Verse 11. And the one sacrifice
for sin is set forth in many ways. I realize there are many
ways in which our Lord's sacrifice is dealt with in these verses.
Inexhaustible. He's called the unspeakable gift. But there are four things I see
here that are most important, I believe. Four things. First of all, the contrast between
the Old Testament priest, their sacrifices in Christ, and his
sacrifice. And then, secondly, is set forth
here the character of our priest as opposed to the character of
those men. And then, thirdly, I see here
the consequences of his sacrifice as opposed to the consequences
of their sacrifices. And then in closing, the covenant
which he completed and fulfilled opposed to that covenant. All
right, let's see verse 11, the contrast. It says in verse 11,
and every priest Every priest standeth daily, ministering and
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices. The Old Testament
priests and their sacrifices were ordained of God. No question
about that. God gave Moses the pattern for
the tabernacle, and he gave Moses the description and pattern for
the priesthood. and all the sacrifices, they're
all in Numbers and Deuteronomy and Leviticus. The dimensions
of the tabernacle, the description of everything, everything. See,
he said to Moses that you make it exactly like I tell you. And
all of these sacrifices and priesthoods, they were ordained of God and
they had divine approval. as long as they were offered
as Moses commanded. And not only that, but when they
were carried out as God commanded, they brought blessings to Israel. They were blessed when they obeyed
God and when they worshiped God and when they offered the sacrifices. And there were many priests,
and they were ordained of God. Turn back to Hebrews 5. Hebrews
5, verse 1. For every priest, every high
priest, Every high priest, and there were many of them, taken
from among men, is ordained. Ordained of whom? Of God. For
a man, in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts
and sacrifices for sin, who can have compassion on the ignorant
and on them that are out of the way, for that he himself also
is compassed with iniquity, infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought,
as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man takes this honor upon
himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron, ordained
of God, chosen of God. And these men, when they ministered
in the tabernacle in the Old Testament, they were ordained
of God, they were approved of God. And when they did what God
told them to do and offered the sacrifices as they were told
to offer them, they brought blessings to Israel. These were pictures
of Christ. Now look at Hebrews 7. Our high
priest, Hebrews chapter 7, they were many. He's one. Verse
21 of Hebrews 7 says, For those priests were made without an
oath, but this priest 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 a surety
of a better covenant. And they truly were many priests,
because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.
They all died. But this man, because he continueth
ever, hath an unchanging priesthood. All right, back to our text,
Hebrews 10, verse 11. And every priest standeth daily. Standeth daily, ministering and
offering all times the same sacrifices. The point here is that there
were many priests and thousands of sacrifices, and these men
stood. They never sat down. Their work
was never finished. They sacrificed daily. There
was a sacrifice for every occasion. And they were the same sacrifices.
And why were they offered over and over and over and over again?
He tells us here in verse 11, because, underline this, six
words, which can never take away sin. That's why they were offered
over and over. You see, these sacrifices were
pictures, not propitiation. These sacrifices were pictures.
Look back at Hebrews 10, verse 1 through 4. If you ever had
any doubt about this, let's clear it up now. People talk about dispensations,
and there are dispensations, but not of salvation. They talk
about how God tried to save man in innocence, That failed, and
he tried to save man under conscience, and that failed, and then he
tried to save people under the law with the sacrifices, and
that failed, and then he tries grace. But that's not true. You see, verse 1 of Hebrews 10
says the law was a shadow of good things to come. A shadow
is not the very image of the thing, it's but a shadow. And the good things to come is
in Christ, and that's what these sacrifices were, a shadow of
things to come. To never, with those sacrifices
which are offered year by year continually, make the comers
thereunto perfect, for then would they not have ceased to be offered?
Because the worshipers, once purged, should have no more conscience
of sin. But in those sacrifices is a
remembrance, again, made of sin every year. Every time another
sacrifice was brought, it said this. This is the way sin is
put away, by the blood of the Lamb of God. But the blood of
the animals, which pictures the Lamb of God, hasn't put it away.
The putting away of sin is reserved for him who's coming. Sin's still
here. Still here. And every time a
sacrifice was offered, it was a remembrance. Sin is still here. It's still here, till he comes.
For it is not possible, verse 4, that the blood of bulls and
goats should take away sin. These sacrifices were pictures,
not propitiation. These sacrifices were examples,
not expiation. These sacrifices were symbols,
not sacrifice, not effectual. These sacrifices were types,
not an atonement. All right, verse 12, Hebrews
10. We see the contrast. All these priests and their sacrifices
and their offerings were pictures. But this man, verse 12, I love
the way that Paul uses these words in the book of Hebrews
in reference to our Lord. He talks about Moses and he said,
But this man hath more honor than Moses, as the builder of
the house hath more honor than the house. He talks about the
angels and he said, But this man, is more excellent than the
angels. And God commands all the angels
to worship him, but this man. He talks about these priests
who came with the sacrifices of the blood of animals. He said,
but this man hath a more excellent sacrifice, better sacrifice than
these, but this man. And here our Lord's character
is given. Now listen, but this man, but
this man, who is this man? Who is this man? Well, turn back
to 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. But this man, I touched on this
in my class this morning, 1 Corinthians 15, verse 47. The first man is of the earth
earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. This scripture sounds like there
are only two men. And in one sense, that's true.
In this business of sin and salvation, of death and life, of condemnation
and reconciliation, there really are but two men. That's true. The first man, verse
47, first Corinthians, let's look at it carefully. The first
man is of the earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. The first man is of the earth, earthy. That's Adam. God
made man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul.
And all men were in him. Nobody else was created. Everybody
came from his loins. We are all of the same blood. Adam is the father. God made
Eve out of Adam. And from Adam came all men. And
Adam's sin, by one man's sin, entered the world, and death
by sin. So death passed on all men. We are all products of Adam,
fruit of Adam, descendants of Adam, posterity of Adam, the
sons of Adam. imputed guilt in Adam. By one man's sin entered the
world and death passed on all men. By one man's disobedience
we were made sinners. That's that one man. And when
he fell and died spiritually, God said, you're going to die
physically. And you were taken out of the earth and you'll go
back to the earth. And that's that man. And that's our future. We came from him and like him
we'll die and we'll go back to the dust. But there is another
man, and he says he is the Lord from heaven. And God prepared in the womb
of a virgin, who had never known a man, a body for this man, this
God-man. And this God-man came from heaven
and inhabited that body. He came out of the womb of that
woman. And he had no attachment to that first Adam. He didn't
descend from him. He had no descendancy, neither
earthly father or mother. This man didn't. That body was
born of a woman, made of a woman, but that man didn't come from
that woman or that man. That man is God. He's without
beginning of days or end of days, without mother or father, without
descent or ancestry. And he came down and inhabited
that body. A body, I read it to you a while
ago. A body hast thou prepared me, he said. And this man is
not like Adam, he is the Lord from heaven. Now look at verse
48. And as is the earthy, such are they that are earthy. And
as is the heavenly, such are they that are heavenly. God gave
to this man a people. And by his obedience and by his
sacrifice, they live. Death in Adam, life in Christ.
Sin in Adam, holiness in Christ. Condemnation in Adam, reconciliation
in Christ. Turn to Romans 5, and I'll show
you that. Romans 5, verse 19. Romans 5,
verse 19. For as by one man's disobedience
the many Many were made sinners by his
disobedience. He's our Father. He's our Head. He's our Root. He's our Source. He's our Fountain. You don't
get good water out of a bad fountain or good food off a bad tree.
We are what we are because of where we came from, who our Father
is. Even so, by the obedience of
one shall the many be made righteous. All who are in Adam are like
him. All who are in Christ are like him. That's right. So really, when it says, verse
12, this man is talking about the Lord from heaven. And by imputation, by his obedience,
we live. By his death, we are justified.
Verse 12, again, after he'd offered one sacrifice for sin, do we
have a tabernacle? Yes, he's our tabernacle. He's
our tabernacle. He tabernacled among us. God
said, Moses, make a tabernacle. In that tabernacle put a mercy
seat. And separate that mercy seat
from the people and from all the priests by a veil. And I'll
dwell over that mercy seat between the cherubims. And I'll meet
you there. And only the high priest, once
a year, with the blood sacrifice atonement, is to come into that
holy of holies where my glory is on the mercy seat. And he
represents you, every one of you, you Israelites. And he'll put the blood on that
mercy seat which covers the broken law in the Ark of the Covenant.
And I'll meet you there. Do we have such a tabernacle,
such a mercy seat, such a place? Christ is that tabernacle. God
meets us in Christ. God loves us in Christ. We worship
God in Christ. God reveals himself in Christ.
God's glory dwells in Christ. He reveals the glory of God in
the face of Christ. We have an altar, not down here. It's in here. It's Christ. Christ is our altar.
He's our tabernacle. He's our altar. He's our mercy
seat. He's our high priest. He's the sacrifice. It's his
blood. He's the Lamb slain, and he's
the atonement. We have a priest, Hebrews 4. Turn over there a minute. Hebrews
4, verse 14. Hebrews 4, verse 14. Look at
this verse. Seeing then we have a great high priest that's passed
into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let's hold fast our
profession. We don't have a high priest that
cannot be touched with the feeding of our infirmities, He was in
all points tempted as we are, yet without sin he became a man.
So let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Because we have a high priest. Go back to my text. But this man, after he had offered
the character of his sacrifice one sacrifice for sins, for all
the sins of all the elect of all generations. Look at this
next word, forever. You look back as far as you will,
and there's always been but one Lamb, one sacrifice, one offering
for sin. He's the Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. Look back as far as you can possibly
imagine. before the foundation of the
world, Christ stood as our Lamb. Look forward as far as you can,
as far as possible, into endless millenniums, and there can only
be one sacrifice and one Lamb. What did I read to you from Revelation
a moment ago, Revelation 7? What did we read? These are they that have washed
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore
are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night
in his temple. And he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell with them. For the Lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them." He has always fed us. He has
always sustained us. He has always stood for us. He
has always interceded for us. He has always provided for us
forever, forever. Let's notice in the next place
the consequences of his one sacrifice. You see, back in verse 11, I
read that these priests stood daily ministering, offering the
same sacrifices which can never take away sin. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down. Sat down on the right
hand of God Almighty. He sat down. Why did he sit down?
His work was finished. He sat on the cross, it's finished.
He sat down. They never sat down because their
work was never finished. But he sat down on the right
hand of God, exalted. Above all, exaltation. Paul,
writing in Philippians, said, He took upon himself the form
of a servant, made in the likeness of sinful flesh, became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God hath
highly exalted him. And remember, we are in him.
In Adam, death, depravity, condemnation. All who are in Adam. If that's
all we've got is Adam, that's where we are. But in Christ,
redeemed, sanctified, justified, glorified. Our forerunner has
entered in within the veil and sat down. He said, I'll go to
prepare a place for you that where I am, there you may be. Where he is, we are. What he
has, we have. He sat down at the right hand
of God and we sat down in him, in him. He sat down toward himself,
the consequences, he finished the work. Verse 13, toward his
enemies, from henceforth expect until his enemies be made his
footstool. Who are his enemies? Satan is his enemy. And he met
Satan and conquered him. And he's expecting till he'd
be made his footstool. Sin is his enemy, and sin has
been conquered and put away. In him there is no sin. Death
is his enemy, and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. And so he's already conquered
his enemies, and the Heavenly Father said, sit at my right
hand till I make all your enemies your footstool. Now, what about
the consequences Toward himself, he's finished the work. Toward
his enemies, they're his footstool, awaiting destruction. Toward his people, verse 14,
by one offering he hath perfected. What a word, perfected. It's not a word that we would
use describing ourselves, perfect. A man wouldn't do that. But it's
the word God uses to describe us in Christ. We're perfect. That's right. What a blessing.
What a blessing. David said over here, Paul quoted
David in Romans 4, he said, David described the blessedness of
the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without worth,
saying, Blessed is he whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are
covered, Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute
sin. In Christ, we're perfect. Holy, unblameable. That's by
one offering. One offering. And I know today
that there are a lot of so-called sacraments, sacrifices and masses
said. But I'm telling you, there's
one sacrifice. There's one high priest. There's
one sacrifice, and it's finished. It's accomplished its purpose.
Toward his people, they are perfected. And look at that next word. They're
perfected forever. Sanctified, justified, washed,
forever! Forever. They'll never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand, for by one offering he hath perfected." You don't
perfect yourself, you don't sanctify yourself, he does. And he sanctifies
you forever, them that are sanctified. Well, the Holy Ghost is a witness
to us, for after he said before, this is the covenant. This is
what he wrote back yonder, turning to Jeremiah chapter 31. This
is what he wrote way back yonder, in Jeremiah 31. Verse 33, the Spirit of God wrote
this many years before Christ came into the world. This is
the covenant he came to fulfill. Jeremiah 31, 33, this shall be
the covenant that I'll make with the house of Israel. That's everybody who's saved,
Jew and Gentile. They're not all Israel, which
are of Israel. He's not an Israelite outwardly,
but one inwardly. After those days, saith the Lord,
I'll put my law in their inward parts. I'll write it on their
hearts, I'll be their God, and they'll be my people. And they
shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, all
believers, from the least of them, the children, to the greatest,
to the oldest of them. I will forgive their iniquity
and remember their sins no more." That's what Christ came to do.
That's the covenant that he came to fulfill, to enable God to
be just and justify. all of his people. That's it. This is the covenant, back to
my text, verse 16, that I'll make with them after those days.
I'll put my law in their hearts and in their minds will I write
them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Our
Lord Jesus fulfilled every promise. All the promises of God are in
Christ. Yes, amen, so be it, fulfilled, accomplished for all
who believe. And in the last chapter of Hebrews,
Paul wrote about that covenant which our Lord fulfilled. He
said in Hebrews 13, verse 20, Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, he died and he
rose again by the power of God, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. The what covenant? forever, both ways, one covenant,
make you perfect, make you perfect in every good work to do his
will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight
through Jesus Christ. You see, while we preach Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever, this is the covenant. lay down to die. You know how
we love the writings of David and how often God refers to David,
man after his own heart. Often God refers to David, out
of whom the Messiah came, from whom. This was David's hope,
right here, what I'm preaching to you this morning, long before
Christ came, before he died, before he fulfilled all these
Old Testament pictures, patterns, priesthood, David lay down to die, and the
scripture said these are his last words. Although it be not
so with my house, God made with me an everlasting covenant. That's what Paul is talking about
right here in Hebrews 13, that everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things from beginning and sure. And this is all my
salvation and all my desire. There are two men, there are
two covenants. That old man, that old nature,
that old covenant, dead and gone. That second man, the Lord from
heaven, that everlasting covenant in his righteousness and his
blood. He'll make you perfect in every good work to do his
will. working in you, that which is
well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom
be glory." One sacrifice. I believe that. I believe that. Do you believe that? Believe
that gospel? 223. Let's sing about it. Arise,
my soul, arise, shake off thy guilty fears, the bleeding sacrifice
in thy behalf appears. Number 44. Can it be? Number 44. We'll stand while
we sing.