I have a question for you amid
all the conflict and the confusion and the customs of religion in
our day. Would you be interested, would
you really seriously be interested in sitting down right now and
taking a good look, a good hard look at what God has to say in
His Word about salvation from sin. Not what I think or what
you think or what the old writers had to say. But would you be
interested in knowing what God Almighty in His inspired Word
has to say about salvation from sin, would you? Let me ask you
another question. Would you be interested in really
looking today at what God has to say about the putting away
of and the forgiveness of sins, past, present, and future. Would
you be interested in knowing how, truthfully now, honestly,
not what some religionist says or some denomination advocate,
But really interested in knowing how a sinner, a bona fide, genuine
sinner like you and me, how we can approach a holy God. Would
you like to know? I don't ask you now. For your
opinion, I don't expect to give you mine. I'm going to look at
the Word of God. We're going to read it together.
What God has to say about salvation, about forgiveness of sin, and
how a sinner can approach a holy God. You see, our faith must
not stand in the wisdom of men. We must not be men followers.
God didn't call us to follow men. Our faith must stand in
the Word of God. The Word of God is the foundation
of faith. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. Our confidence and faith has
got to rest not in the logic or argument or wisdom of intellectuals,
but in the power of God. Now let me say this, and I don't
mean to be unkind, but I'm going to say it. We're not in any financial
trouble, and I'm not here to impress you so that you'll help
us out of our financial problems. We're not having any financial
problems. I'm not here to sell you one thing. I've got nothing
to sell, and we're not building a building, and we're not operating
in the red. When we do, we'll go off the
air. This program has been on this channel for over 14 years
and never missed one single payment on time. And I'm not looking
for your support, not begging for it, and I'm not going off
there if you don't send it. We'll go off there when God puts
us off there. He's always supplied our needs
according to His riches and glory through Christ Jesus without
pressuring anybody, and that's God's way, whether you believe
it or not. But what I'm interested in, not
interested in your silver, your gold, your money, or your support,
I'm interested in knowing God Almighty. I want to know God. I don't want to know about God.
I don't want to know about some God or your God or my God. I want to know the living God.
Do you? I want to know the living God. I want to know the living
God and Jesus Christ whom he had sent, the one true and living
God. I'm interested in being redeemed. and living forever in God Almighty's
kingdom, not professing it, but actually being redeemed. I'm
interested in your spiritual well-being. I don't know whether
it's ever dawned on some of you or not, but I'm interested in
your knowing God. We're not trying to impress anyone.
It's too late for that. We're not putting on a show or
entertaining sinners on their road to hell. I'm trying to tell
men the truth. Do you recognize the truth when
you hear, Well, if you'll turn to Hebrews chapter 10, I want
to be kind and compassionate, but I tell you, I don't want
to miss Christ, and I don't want you to miss him. I want us to
look seriously at this matter of what God has to say about
salvation. And if you want to hear some
music, you can play your record after a while. But right now,
we need to tend to preaching. Preaching is the most important
part of our ministry, and some folks have relegated it to the
scrap heap, and spend their time begging and selling and entertaining
and singing, and God said, go preach the gospel. God hath chosen
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Faith
cometh by hearing. And, uh, it's a serious business. All right, turn to Hebrews 10.
Now, just sit down there and open your Bible. A friend of
mine used to say, if you're not in too big a hurry to go to hell,
sit down and listen to the Word of God. Because man's not gonna
tell you the truth. None of them will. It says here
in verse 1 of Hebrews 10. Now, listen to it. The law of
God, we're not talking about the Ten Commandments here now,
we're talking about the Levitical law. We're talking about the
law God gave Moses on Mount Sinai concerning the erecting of the
temple, the tabernacle, and all the sacrifices, and priesthood,
and mercy seed, and these things. So the law having a shadow of
good things to come. good things to come and not the
very image of the things can never, with those sacrifices
which they offered year by year continually, make men perfect.
Now, the apostle is saying here that all of these Old Testament
sacrifices, they were God-ordained and God-designed, and God gave
them to Moses, and they serve a purpose, and that purpose is
to picture, symbolize, foreshadow, typify Jesus Christ and his sacrifice
and sin offering. That's what they're for. And
these Old Testament sacrifices and feast days and holy days
and tabernacle and priesthood and sin offerings and burnt offerings
were not saviors nor sacraments. They were pictures. They were
shadows. What is a shadow? It's not the
person. It's the image of the person. It's that which you see
first. It's the outline. It's not the
substance. It's a type of good things. What's
the good things? Salvation, putting away of sin,
justification, redemption, righteousness. Those are the good things. The
good things which are to come. Pardon. pardon, forgiveness in
Christ. And these laws and sacrifices
and ceremonies that Moses passed along to Israel, in which they
observed, in which they kept for all these hundreds and hundreds
and hundreds of years, could never put away sin and never
make the comers there unto perfect or holy before God. Never, never,
never. The ultra-dispensationalist contends that God has had a half
a dozen ways of saving sinners, and it is not so. Men were never
saved any way but by the cross. They were never saved by law
or innocence or judges or anything like that. They were saved by
Christ, either looking to the coming Christ or looking back
to the Christ who came. Now, these sacrifices can never
put away sin. You see it there? It's right
in front of your eyes, in Hebrews 10, 1. And then it gives us reasons
why they couldn't. First of all, if they could put
away sin, they would have ceased to be offered. Because if sin's
put away, there's no use... any more sacrifice. If I owe
a debt and come down and pay it, I don't keep coming and making
installment payments, it's paid. I don't have to pay any more.
So he said if these sacrifices offered in the Old Testament
could put away sin, we'd quit offering them, because sin put
away would not require any more sacrifice. In verse 3, he said
the very fact that these sacrifices continually, continually, year
by year were offered is evidence that sin is still there. God
still required an atonement this year, atonement next year. Why
wasn't next year? Sin's still there. And why wasn't
the next year? Sin's still there. And then verse
4, he says, besides, it's not possible for the blood of an
animal to put away the sin of a man. That's not possible. That's ridiculous. Different
type blood, different type nature. An animal cannot die for the
sin of a man. Man has to die. Man's sin, man
has to die. The law was given to man, man's
got to obey it. Do you see that? That's what
that says in verse 1 through 4. The Old Testament laws and
sacrifices are not sin offerings in the sense that they were effectual.
They're only pictures, pictures of God's redemptive work in Christ
who is to come. Abraham, Moses demonstrated their
faith in Christ. Abraham saw my day, Christ said.
Moses wrote of me. Isaiah said, He was wounded for
our transgression. Was, was wounded. Isaiah's writing
about something going to occur 700 years later, but he uses
the past tense because a promise of God is as effectual as a work
of God. All right, look at verse 5. Now, these sacrifices cannot
put away sin. They weren't given for that purpose.
The blood of an animal cannot atone for the sin of a man. Verse
5 says, Wherefore, when he, he, Christ, when Christ cometh into
the world, into the world, yes, into the world. He's always been
in the world. His presence is everywhere. David
said, Whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I take the wings
of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, thou
art there. If I make my bed in hell, thou art there. Wherever
I am, you're there. When it says He came into the
world, He literally, actually took on Himself a human body
and was born of a woman and born made under the law and came into
this world in the form of a servant in the likeness of human flesh.
Jesus Christ, actually the God Almighty, came into this world. He was in the world and the world
knew Him not. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And when He came into the world,
In the fullness of time, God sent forth his son made of a
woman, made under the law. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world.
Under us a child is born, a son is given. Behold, the Lord himself
shall give you a sign. A virgin shall be with child,
and you shall call his name Immanuel, God with us. See that man, Jesus
of Nazareth? That's God. He that has seen
God, Christ, has seen God. He came into the world. And he
said when he came into the world, look at verse five, a body, a
body hast thou prepared me. a body, a tabernacle, the true
tabernacle. That tabernacle out there in
the wilderness is a type. It's a picture. It's got to come
down. But the true tabernacle, the
tabernacle where God meets men and men meet God, the tabernacle
where the true mercy seat is, is Jesus Christ the Lord. He
tabernacled among us. And he says, when he came into
the world, a body hast thou prepared me. Now watch this. Sacrifice
and offering thou wouldest not. In burnt offerings and sacrifices,
thou hast had no pleasure. Do you see that right there in
verse five, six and seven? In other words, Christ himself
is saying to the Father, My Father, in all these rivers of oil, in
all of these seas of blood, in all of these sacrifices and holy
days and atonements, you've never been pleased. You've never been
satisfied. For these sacrifices and offerings
of animals could never please your holiness or satisfy your
justice. In these burnt offerings and
sacrifice, thou hast had no pleasure." Never been pleased. But one day,
down yonder the River Jordan, a man stood named Jesus of Nazareth,
and he was baptized of John in the River Jordan, and when he
came up out of the water, Spirit of God descended upon him in
the form of a dove and a voice from heaven said This is my only
begotten well-beloved son in whom I'm well pleased God is
well pleased and that's not said anywhere in the Word of God about
any creature any creature God's never been pleased with anything
anybody's ever done and See, in order to please God, it has
to be perfect. And there's no perfection in
any creature except Christ. And he's not a creature, he's
the God-man. My father said, I'm pleased.
That's what he said when he came, when he cometh into the world,
he said, sacrifice and offering, thou hast had no pleasure. In
burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure,
never been pleased. But lo, he said, I come. I come lo behold I come and the
first thing the father said when he began his ministry I'm well
pleased I'm well pleased and then when he died on that cross
was buried and rose again The father said come up and sit on
my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool Lo I come
look at verse 7 and 8 in the volume of the book It's written
of me. Would you have any idea what
that book is? In the volume of the book, it's
written of me. I come. It's written of me concerning
my coming, the reason for my coming, what I'll do when I come,
what I'll accomplish, and where I'll go when I leave. It's all
in the book. Well, I read it two books. One
is the Bible. The Old Testament, in the volume
of the book, it's written of him in the Psalms, in the Law
of Moses, and in the Prophets. All the Prophets bear witness
of him. All these things are concerning
Christ. Also, in the Revelation, John saw one who sat on the throne,
and in his hand a book. AND THERE WAS FOUND NO ONE WORTHY
IN HEAVEN, EARTH, OR UNDER THE EARTH TO OPEN THAT BOOK THAT
WAS WRITTEN ON THE OUTSIDE AND INSIDE, SEALED WITH SEVEN SEALS. NO ONE WAS FOUND WORTHY IN HEAVEN,
EARTH, OR UNDER THE EARTH TO OPEN THAT BOOK. AND JOHN SAID,
I WEPT. I WEPT MUCH BECAUSE NO ONE WAS FOUND WORTHY TO OPEN
THAT BOOK. BUT HE SAID, AS I WEPT, ONE OF THE ELDERS SAID, WEEP
NOT. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lamb slain,
he's worthy. And he said, I saw one in the
midst of the throne, in the center of all things, in the midst of
all things. Rise up and walk forward and
take the book out of the hand of him who sat on the throne.
And he opened it. And every voice in heaven proclaimed,
thou art worthy. unto him who loved us and loosed
us from our sins in his own precious blood, and has made us kings
and priests to our God. Unto him be glory now and forever."
What was that book? That book is the purposes of
God, the mercy of God to sinners, the redemptive glory of God,
all that God planned in the mediatorial kingdom, all that God will make,
and all that God will receive, IN THAT GLORIOUS NEW HEAVEN AND
NEW EARTH IS IN THAT BOOK, AND JESUS CHRIST OPENED THAT BOOK,
FOR IN THE VOLUME OF THAT BOOK, IT WAS WRITTEN OF HIM." WRITTEN
OF HIM, WRITTEN ABOUT HIM, WRITTEN BY HIM, AND HE OPENED IT AND
MADE IT ALL COME TO PASS. THAT'S RIGHT. THAT'S RIGHT. HE SAID, IN THE VOLUME OF THE
BOOK, IT'S WRITTEN OF ME, AND I COME TO DO I know there's a lot of arguments
going on about my will, and your will, and free will, man's will,
and God's will, and all these other different kind of wills,
but I'll tell you this, there's only one free will, and that's
God's will. His will's free. God will do
what He will do. That's right. He said, my will,
Christ said, my will is to do the will of Him that sent me.
And he said, all that my father giveth me will come to me. And
him that cometh to me, I'll in no wise cast out, for I came
down from heaven, not to do my will, but the will of him that
sent me. And this is the will of him that sent me, that of
all which he had given me, I'll lose nothing, but raise it up
at the last day. I tell you this, as many as received
him, to them gave he the right, the privilege to become sons
of God, which were born. not of blood, not of fleshly
inheritance, not of the will of man. We're not born of the
will of man. We're not regenerated of the will of the flesh, but
we're born and regenerated and saved by the will of God. That's
right. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. He doeth his will in the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of this earth and giveth it to
whomsoever he will. The son quickeneth whom he will. The son maketh alive whom he
will. And he said, my father, lo, in
the volume of the book, it's written to me, I come to do thy
will and thy will shall be done. Thy will shall be done. And in
doing the will of God." Now, watch this next statement. In
doing the will of God. See verse 8, 9? In doing the
will of God, it says, he taketh away the first and establisheth the second.
He taketh away the first and establisheth the second. The
first what? Well, he taketh away the first
covenant of works, do this and live. That's gone. Nobody can do it. Man failed,
and he established the new covenant, the new covenant which is the
everlasting covenant, the covenant of his grace, of which David
spoke when he was dying. He said, The Lord hath made with
me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, ensured. And this
is all my salvation and all my desire. And then he takes away
the first Adam. There are two Adams. And Adam would die, and Christ
were made alive. The first Adam is of the earth,
earthy, and he went back to the dust from whence he came. The
second Adam is the Lord from heaven, and I plan to go to be
with him. The first tabernacle's been done
away. Christ's tabernacled among us. Where's the old tabernacle?
Where's the Ark of the Covenant? Where's the mercy seat? It's
gone. Good thing we're not dependent
on it, isn't it? Good thing you don't have to offer a sacrifice.
What are these poor folks without Christ gonna do? Where are they
gonna put their atonement? There's no mercy seat. There's
no Ark of the Covenant. And therefore God said, I will
dwell between the cherubims on the mercy seat. Where's your
mercy seat? You're in trouble. One of the raiders looked for
the lost Ark. They don't have an Ark. They don't have a mercy
seat. I got one. God set forth Christ to be our
mercy seat. And God dwells in Christ. That's
where you'll meet God, in Christ, nowhere else. He takes away the
first priesthood, the first sacrifice. There's no priesthood today on
this earth representing men to God. We have a high priest who
is ascended into heaven, Jesus Christ, who's at the right hand
of God. He's our priest. You don't confess your sins to
any man. You confess it to Christ. He's
our great high priest. That's right, and any man who
assumes to take a confession from you and absolve you from
sin is an imposter. And the first mercy seat and
atonement are gone. The first nature, God gives us
a new nature. We're gonna bury this old nature
someday. And the soul goes to God who gave it. We have the
first heaven and earth are gonna pass away. There's gonna be a
new heaven and new earth. The first everything is gone.
Christ said, behold, I make all things new. Everything new in
Christ. Don't put your name on anything
here, because it's not going to last. Your name needs to be
written. Christ said, rejoice that your
names are written in heaven. That's the only place to have
a monument. That's the only place to have a rock. That's the only
place to have a treasure. That's the only place to have
your name is in glory. All right, notice verse 10. He
said, Lo, I come to do thy will. By the which will? We are sanctified. Now watch this. Through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. We are sanctified, that
is, set apart for God. Sanctified, made holy. Sanctified,
declared to be holy. And we're sanctified how? Through
the law? Oh, no. Through our works? Oh,
no. We're sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. We're not
sanctified by second work of grace. We're not sanctified by
special baptism of the Holy Ghost. We're not sanctified by the eradication
of the old nature. Only time it'll be eradicated
is when you bury it. We're sanctified by the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. That's what it says,
once for all. He who knew no sin was made sin for us that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He's able to present
you faultless, without blame, unblameable, unreprovable, perfect
in God's sight. IN HIM DWELLETH ALL THE FULLNESS
OF THE GODHEAD, BODILY AND YOUR COMPLETE, COMPLETE IN HIM. THERE'S NO JUDGMENT, THERE'S
NO CONDEMNATION TO THEM WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS. READ THAT VERSE
AGAIN, VERSE 10, BY THE GOD'S WILL, CHRIST SAID, I CAME TO
DO THY WILL, O GOD, BY THE WHICH WILL WE ARE SANCTIFIED, SANCTIFIED
BY THE OFFERING OF THE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST ONCE FOR ALL. once for all." Now, words mean
anything? And then he says in verse 11,
every priest of the Old Testament, of the Old Tabernacle, stands
daily offering the same sacrifices, which can never, never, never
take away sin. We go through the motions. We
go through the rules. We go through all of these traditions
and customs. We walk down the aisle. We dedicate
and rededicate. We make profession and go in
and go out and get hot and get cold and quit and come back.
We do all these things. And these things can never put
away sin. They can never give the guilty
conscience peace. They can never give a man a new
heart and a new life. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down on the right hand of
God. For by one offering, he perfected
forever them whom he sanctified. Now read those two verses together.
By God's will, we are sanctified. through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. Now, these Old Testament priests,
there were many of them, Christ only one. They lived and died,
he ever lives. They offered many sacrifices,
he offered one. They offered animal blood, he
offered his own blood. They ministered in an earthly
tabernacle, he ministered in heaven itself. Their sacrifices
could never put away sin, he is dead. They served in an earthly
sanctuary, offering animal blood, which could never put away sin,
so they never sat down. You know why they never sat down?
Their work was never finished. But when Jesus Christ, by one
offering, sanctified through one offering, and by one offering
perfected forever. I hear people arguing about eternal
security. According to who saved you? If
you're in Him, you're secure. If you're not, you're not secure.
I don't care what you claim. He perfected forever them whom
He sanctified. By one offering, he sanctified
us. And by that same offering, he
perfected us. And God says there's sins and
iniquities in verse 17, I'll remember no more. And he said,
having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true heart, sprinkled
by the blood of Christ and full assurance that God will receive
us. Isn't that beautiful? A lot of
comfort and help there. The Word of God is the foundation
of faith. All right, if you want this message,
One Sacrifice for Sin, One Sacrifice for Sin, and that message I preached
last week on the gospel of the cross, write to me. I'll send
it to you. Here's our address right here.
Till next week, God bless you, everyone.