Let me talk quite frankly and
personally with you for a few moments. Would you just pull
your chair a little closer and listen a little more carefully? Amid all the conflict and the
customs and traditions and confusion of all this religion in our day,
would you Would you be interested in taking a few moments today
to see what God's Word says about three things. Three vital, critical,
important things. Now there's a lot of religion,
confusion, tradition, customs, emotions, excitement, promotions
all around us. We're just literally swamped
with religion, but would you like to just sit down for a little
while and See what God's Word says about these three things
here. Here. They are number one What
does God's Word say about the forgiveness of sins? The putting
away of sin You're a sinner and I'm a sinner all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. There is no difference Jew
or Gentile male or female, bond or free, old or young, all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. Now, how are sins
forgiven, put away? The second question, how is a
man sanctified? How is a person, a sinner like
you and me, made holy in the sight of God, before God? It says who's going to stand?
Who's going to ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who's going
to stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands. How
are hands cleansed? How are hearts purified? How
are souls justified? How can a man be righteous with
God? That's what Job said. How can
he be clean that's born of a woman? How can man be just with God?
That's what I want to know. What does the Bible say? How
can I become holy? Because heaven's a holy place
prepared by a holy God for a holy people. Wherein dwelleth righteousness. They shall no wise enter in anything
that worketh or maketh a lie. And the Bible says all men are
liars. How are we going to be holy? And the third question
is, how can we approach God? How can you and I, how can we
approach God? The scripture says, God is the
most high potentate who dwells in a light to which no man can
approach. God dwells in a light to which
no man dare approach. How are we going to approach
God? We better find out the answer to these questions. How is sin
forgiven? How can we be made holy in his
sight? A lot of people think they're
holy in their sight and the sight of others, but his sight. How
can we approach God? Now, I don't ask you to believe
me or any other preacher. I'm but a man, as you are, and
they are but men too. Like Paul said in Philippians
3, I want to win Christ and be found in him. I want the answer
to these three questions. I want to know him and the power
of his resurrection. I want to attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. I don't want to perish in a false
religious profession, claiming on a stack of Bibles that I'm
holy when I'm not. Our faith must not stand in the
wisdom of men, or how well a man argues his point, or debates
his position. Our faith has got to stand in
God's infallible, immutable Word. The Word of God is the foundation
of faith, and Christ Jesus is the sole object of faith. Now,
I'll tell you this before I get into these answers. This preacher
and this program that's been on this station and some other
stations for over 20 years, this preacher and this program, we
have nothing to sell. We have nothing to promote. We're
not building any schools. We're not building any denominations.
We have no money to raise. We have no goals to attain. Not
any whatsoever. Not promoting anything. Selling
anything. We don't have any gimmicks. I'm
interested in one thing. I'm interested in knowing God
and your knowing God. I'm interested in preaching the
truth about God. About salvation. About eternal
life. And I'm interested in life eternal. Are you? That's my chief interest. I don't preach myself. I'm preaching
Christ. Paul's our pattern, our example,
when he was going to Rome and knew that he would be killed,
and he was preaching his last message to the elders from Antioch,
from Ephesus at Antioch. He was preaching to these preachers,
and he knew they'd never see his face again, never hear him
preach again. And he summed up his ministry
with these five statements. He said, number one, I've served
the Lord among you with humility of mind. Humility of mind. He said, I'm the chief of sinners.
I'm the least, less than the least of all the saints. I'm
not worthy to be called an apostle. I'm one of you. Is any weak that
I'm not weak? And then he said, secondly, I've
kept back nothing profitable unto you. Neither for gain out
of covetousness, I've kept back nothing from this word that's
profitable to you. I've not kept it back out of
fear, out of favor, out of covetousness. If I see it in God's word, I'll
preach it, he said. And I have. And then he said,
I'm free from the blood of all men. I'm free from the blood
of all men. I've been true. I've kept the
faith. I've finished my course. There's
laid up for me a crown of righteousness. He said, fourthly, I have not
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. If it's offensive,
I preached it anyway. If it humbles man's pride and
his dignity and shuts him up to repentance and faith in Christ,
I preached it. I've not shunned to declare all
the counsel of God. And then he said, I've coveted
no man's silver or gold. Haven't asked you for anything.
Haven't coveted anything you have. I preach for the glory
of God. Now, you want some answers straight
from the Scripture? You turn to Hebrews 10. Hebrews
10. And let's see if we can find
the answer to these three questions. How are sins forgiven? How is
a man made righteous? How does a man approach God?
In Hebrews 10, verse 1, now listen. For the law, having a shadow
of good things to come, and not the very image of the things
can never, with those sacrifices offered year by year, make the
comers there unto perfect. What law is this? It's the Mosaic
law. It's the Levitical law. It's
the law of the tabernacle, and the sacrifices, and the priesthood,
and the Sabbaths, and the sin offerings, and the holy days.
All of these things that were done in the Old Testament when
they built the tabernacle, built the temple, and God ordained
the priests, to represent God to men and men to God, a mediator. And he instituted the Sabbath
day, and the holy days, and the feast days, and the mercy seat,
and the art of the covenant, and the atonement, and all these
sacrifices. And these sacrifices were the,
they were the shadow, what's a shadow? A shadow is a light
shining on something, and that's the thing that precedes the object,
picture. of that which is to come. And
these sacrifices and sin offerings and holy days were the shadow
of Christ, the picture of Christ. They weren't the Christ, they
were the picture of Christ and the pattern. And these sacrifices
were not given to put away sin. They weren't given to make men
righteous. They weren't given to bring men to God. They were
given to foreshadow Christ, to point to Christ. Now verse 2
says this, If these Old Testament sacrifices could put away sin,
that's what we're talking about today, putting away sin. If they
could put away sin, they would have ceased to be offered. Probably
the person bringing the sacrifice would have no conscience of sin.
In other words, when Aaron slew the lamb, and roasted his body,
and caught his blood, and put the blood on the mercy seat,
and came out of the Holy of Holies, having made an atonement, if
that blood could put away sin, They wouldn't have to do it again,
and again, and again, and again. Because the person would have
no conscience of sin. If sins are put away, there's
no need for sacrifice. But look at verse 3. But the
very fact that these sacrifices were continually offered every
year, every year, is proof that sin is not put away. That sin
is still there. That sin has not been put away.
It's still that. Besides, look at verse 4, it's
not possible for the blood of an animal to put away the sin
of a man, because an animal doesn't have the same nature as a man,
nor the same blood. Is this clear? So when Paul starts
this 10th chapter, he starts it first of all by saying that
that Old Testament system of laws and sacrifices and priesthood,
and holy days, and tithe, and all these things that Israel
did, and these sacrifices, and burnt offerings, and sin offerings,
these were the shadow of good things to come, not the image
of the good things, but the shadow of them, pictures of good things
to come, forgiveness, and mercy. Now look at verse, go to verse
5, these were pictures of Christ. You know what I'm saying is that
Christ, when He came, He fulfilled all these things. For example,
do you remember the rock that Moses smoked and water came out? That rock is Christ. That's a
picture of Christ, how He's smitten for our sins and the refreshing
water and the blood flowed from His side to give us sanctification
and justification. And that Passover lamb that they
slew and put the blood on the door in Egypt, That blood didn't
hold back the wrath of God. That blood was a picture of the
blood that held back the wrath of God. The blood of Christ.
He's the lamb. He's our Passover. Paul said
Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. He's the rock. He's the
Passover. As Moses lifted up the serpent.
Do you think for one moment that those people who were sick and
dying, looking to a snake could heal them? That's worse than
superstition. That's worse than witchcraft.
But they looked to that serpent on a pole, and that's Christ
lifted up. As Moses lifted up the serpent,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up. And they looked, that was
a picture type. The law is a shadow of good things
to come. And the high priest. These men
were but men. And they died. They brought an
animal's blood. And they went into the holy place,
and they put blood on the mercy seat, and came out, and the wrath
of God was sustained. Do you think that those men who
were sinners themselves, bringing the blood of an animal, on a
certain day, would hold back the wrath and judgment of God
from a sinner? Oh, no more than baptism saves
us. You can put a man in water and
he won't wash his sins away. No more than coming to the Lord's
table. The Lord's table is not a sacrament. It's not a saving
ordinance. Eating the bread and the wine
won't save anybody or put away anybody's sin. Baptism won't
put away sin, joining the church, any of these things now that
we do that are pictures and memorials to Christ. He said, when you
eat this bread and drink this wine, you show my death till
I come. When a person's baptized, he's
not baptized for salvation. He's identifying himself with
Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. Pictures. So look at verse 5 now. Now all
of that back there in the Old Testament, the Sabbath, the Holy
Days, the sacrifices, the priesthood, the temple, all these things
are but pictures, shadows. No substance. Just pictures. Now, wherefore, verse 5, when
he cometh into the world, When Christ came into the world The
angel said unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior
Christ the Lord When he came into the world he said to the
father sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not But a body
has thou prepared me What's he saying? Listen sacrifice an offering
thou wouldest not he's saying the same thing that I've been
saying those sacrifices would not put away sin Those offerings
would not put away sin Those those sin offerings and burn
offerings would not put away sin He's saying to the father
these sacrifices of animals and offering of blood never satisfied
the father Never satisfied the father in verse 6. He said in
burn offerings and Sabbath days and sacrifice for sin thou hast
had no pleasure These sacrifices never gave God satisfaction or
pleasure, but I tell you who did When he looked down and saw
the Lord Jesus, standing in the river Jordan, fulfilling all
righteousness, he said, now, this is my Son, in whom I'm well
pleased. Back yonder when those people
were keeping a Sabbath, Saturday, the Sabbath day, as a picture
of Christ, our rest. Back there when the high priest
was bringing the blood offering, as a picture of Christ, our sin
offering. Back there when the priest went into the Holy of
Holies with the blood and put it on the mercy seat, that's
Christ, our mercy seat. He's the priest, he's the mercy
seat, he's the sacrifice, he's the sin offering, and he performed
his service not in tabernacles made with hands, but in heaven
itself. He said, Father, sacrifice and
offering thou wouldest not, but a body thou hast prepared me. Behold, the Lord himself shall
give you a sign. A virgin shall be with son, with
a child, and bear son, call his name Immanuel, God with us. God
with us. Unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor
of the Mighty God. A body thou hast prepared me.
Now then, we have a perfect lamb. We have a suitable lamb. We have
a representative lamb. We have a man. Not an animal,
a man. Not a defiled animal, but a spotless
man. A representative. We have one
with whom God is pleased. With whom God is pleased. We
have one God sent. One God anointed. A body, thou
hast prepared me. You see, when he was born, of
the Virgin. The angel said to Joseph, now
don't be afraid to take Mary to be your wife, because that
holy thing that's formed in her is the Son of God. She's never
known a man. The Holy Ghost came upon her,
the power of God. God prepared that body, supernatural
body, the God-man. And then verse 7, look, he said,
Lo, I come, I come, In the volume of the book is written of me.
What's he talking about? What book? In the volume of what
book is written of him? The Old Testament, from Genesis,
the seed of woman, God will provide the lamb, Abel's lamb, Isaac's
lamb, Exodus, the Passover lamb, all the way through the Old Testament,
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, the mercy seed, the blood atonement,
Deuteronomy, cities of refuge, All the way through the Old Testament.
It's written of Him. It's written of Him. To Him give
all the prophets witness. The Old Testament says someone's
coming. These priests are not His priests. These priests are
pictures of His priests. These lambs are not His lamb.
These lambs are pictures of His lamb. It's written of Me. I'll
tell you where else in the volume of the book it's written of Him.
You read in Revelation chapter 5 of Him that sat upon the throne
and in His hand was a book written within and without. which no
man could open. And I wept, John said, because
it was not found in heaven, earth, or under the earth a man fit,
worthy to open that book. And one of the elders said, Weep
not, the Lamb is worthy. And he said, I looked, and in
the midst of the throne stood one as a lamb slain. And he came
and took the book out of the hand of him that sat on the throne,
and he opened it. And the volume of the book is
written of me. Now look at verse 9. Lo, I come, O God, O Father,
to do thy will. My will is to do the will of
him that sent me. Not my will, but thy will be
done. And then watch this, verse 9. He said, Lo, a body thou hast
prepared me, and I come, O God, to do thy will. He taketh away
the first and establishes the second. What is the first? Well, it's the first covenant
revealed. It's the Old Testament priesthood. It's the Old Testament
tabernacle. It's the Old Testament sacrifices. It's the Old Testament temples.
It's the Old Testament holy days. It's the Old Testament Sabbaths
and tithes and all these things that were required of Israel
to do till Christ came who would do it perfectly. He'd taken away
the first. That's all gone. Why is it gone? Christ fulfilled it. When you
have the person, you don't need a picture. If I show a picture of my wife
to someone, that means she's not here. Because if she's here,
they say, what does your wife look like? There she is. I don't
show a picture when she's here. And you don't show a picture
of Christ if He's here, you don't need a sacrifice, you don't need
a priest, you don't need these things. He's, Lord, I come. And the volume of the book is
written of me to do thy will, O God. And when He came, He takes
away the first. Don't go back there and dig up
a Sabbath day and dig up a sacrifice, dig up a sacrament, dig up a
priesthood and dress the fellow up and give him a cross and let
him go around making silly signs and people kissing his rings
and bowing before him. Don't do that. You're a priest.
He's made us kings and priests unto God. I have a high priest. He's in heaven. I don't need
anybody here on the earth to confess my sins to or to go to
for forgiveness. I go to Christ. He taketh away
the first that he may establish the second. The second is a full
revelation of God's will in Christ. He said, I come to do thy will.
How's sin forgiven? Listen to it. By the witch will,
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. Lo, I come, O God, to do Thy
will. And when he said that, he took
away all of those types and shadows and established himself. And
he said, now, by the witch will, the will of God, we are sanctified,
made holy, forgiven, justified, accepted, made righteous through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. How is sin
put away? By the sacrifice of Christ. How
is sin forgiven? By the death of the Son of God.
How is sin cleansed? By the blood of Christ. How is
a man made holy and righteous? In Christ. Because He is our
holiness. He is our righteousness. He's
our sanctification. We're sanctified by His blood.
And how do we approach God? By Christ. Oh, this is so clear. So clear. Look at verse 11. Back
in the Old Testament, He said, all those priests, they stand
daily and they offer the same sacrifices and the same offerings
which can never take away sin. But this man, this God-man, this
man, for whom God prepared a body. This man, after he'd offered,
listen, one sacrifice for sin forever, forever, was sanctified
by the blood of Christ once for all, forever. He sat down at
the right hand of God. You see, those Old Testament
priests were but men, only men, nothing but men. This is the
God-man. God was in Christ. Those Old
Testament men lived and they died and somebody took their
place. He ever lives. He's a priest forever after the
order of Melchizedek. He is, he was, he is, and he
always will be. You see, those men ministered
here on the earth. He ministers in the presence
of God. Those men offered many sacrifices.
Oh, thousands of them. He offered one. Those men offered animal blood.
He gave His perfect blood. We're redeemed, not with corruptible
things, but with the precious blood of Christ. Those men, their
sacrifices could never put away sin. I can sprinkle water on
you and burn candles and go through all the hocus-pocus how you want
to, and it won't put away sin. Sin's put away with the sacrifice
of Himself. And those men stood. Every priest
stands daily offering the same sacrifices This says he sat down,
having finished his work. Watch verse 14. By one offering. How is sin put away? How is it
forgiven? How are we made holy? How does man come to God? By
one offering. He perfected forever them that
are sanctified. By one offering. He perfected
forever them that are sanctified. And this is the covenant, God
says in verse 16, that I'll make with them, with those believers,
those men in Christ in that day, in the days of the Messiah, I'll
put my law in their hearts. God doesn't give us a law on
a table of stones. He writes it on our hearts so
we love it. We love his law. He said, I'll write my law on
their minds. They don't have to go around reading it. They
think on it. They think on it and they love it. And their sins
and their iniquities will I remember no more. No more. They're put away. Our sins are
cast into the depths of the sea, behind the back of God, wherever
that is, separated from us as far as the east is from the west
because He paid for them. He bore them in His body on the
tree and He paid for them and He put them away. And their sins
will I remember no more. Oh, I remember every sin. You
do too. But thank God He doesn't. That's
the power of the blood of Christ. He puts away our sins. And where
forgiveness is, verse 18, there's no more sacrifice. No more sacrifice. No more work to be done. No more
duties to be performed. It's done. The great transaction's
done. I am my Lord's and He is mine. So verse 19, therefore, having
boldness, brethren, to enter the Holy of Holies by the blood
of Jesus, let's draw near with a true heart full of assurance.
How sin is put away. How is a man made holy? How do we approach God? By the
blood of Christ.