Let's turn to Leviticus chapter
16. Now here is the importance of my message this morning. A few moments ago, I led the
congregation in prayer after we had sung what I call
our call to worship, or our ancient hymn. Now were we, when we were
singing that hymn, being received by God and heard by God, and were we really in communion
with God or not? Well, you say, we were sincere
and we meant to be. Yes, but were we? And the answer
to that question is right here in this chapter I'm going to
read for a moment. and in my message. I prayed, and I used
the proper salutation, and our Father which art in heaven, after
all, the disciples asked the Lord, they said, teach us to
pray, and he said, when you pray, say, our Father which art in
heaven. But that doesn't mean that I spoke to God or that God
heard me. Not at all. There are a lot of
people who will say, Lord, Lord, who will never enter the kingdom
of God, who have never heard by God. The answer, whether God
heard me, or whether I was in communion with God, lies in this
chapter right here, and in my message this morning. We're gathered
here in the name of God to, we say, worship God, communion with
God, fellowship with God, thank God, praise God. Are we? Do we? Will we? Well,
the answer lies in this chapter right here, and in this message,
whether we do or don't now. And we profess to be saved, and
everybody else does too. And we're going to lie down some
day and die. Will we go to be with God? Paul said to be absent
from the body is to be present with the Lord. That's not automatic. Everybody that's absent from
the body is not present with the Lord. But those who are in
His grace and in His Son, in His love, and in His mercy. Are we there? It lies right here
in this chapter. I may preach 15 minutes or 30
minutes or 45, I don't know, but I'm going to try this in
simplicity and sincerity and scripturally to teach this lesson
to you this morning. This is where it all lies, right
here in Leviticus 16. So let's read it. You follow
while I read. And the Lord spake unto Moses after the death of
the two sons of Abraham. Here were two boys pretending
to worship God, and God killed them. They offered fire, but
it was strange fire. They burned incense, but it was
strange incense. When they offered before the
Lord and died, and the Lord said to Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy
brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place.
Why do you think God wanted folks to come before him all the time?
He told Aaron, the high priest, not to come at all times. Don't you come, sir. within the
veil before the mercy seat, which is upon the earth, that he die
not. If he does, I'll kill him, God said. For I will appear in
the cloud upon the mercy seat. Thus shall Avon come into the
holy place." This is the way Avon's to come. This is the way
Avon's to come. Right here. Isn't that right,
Charlie? This is the way. Don't you tell him not to come.
And if he does come, this is the way he'd better come. With
a young bullock for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
He shall put on the holy linen coat. He shall have the linen
breeches upon his flesh. He shall be girded with a linen
girdle. With a linen mitre shall he be attired. These are holy
garments. Therefore shall he wash his flesh
in water, and put them on. He shall take of the congregation
of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering,
and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock
of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement
for himself and for his house. Then he shall take the two goats,
and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon
the two goats, one lot for the Lord, and the other for the scapegoat.
And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell,
and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot
fell, to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the
Lord, to make an atonement with it, and to let him go for a scapegoat
into the wilderness. And David shall bring the bullock
of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an
atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the
bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and he
shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar
before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense, beaten
small, and bring it within the veil. And he shall put the incense
on that fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense
may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he
die not. And he shall take the blood of
the bullock and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat
eastward towards the eastern gate. And before the mercy seat
shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. Then shall he kill the goat of
the sin offering that's for the people and bring his blood within
the veil and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the
bullock, sprinkle it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy
seat and he shall make an atonement for the holy place because of
the uncleanness of the children of Israel and because of their
transgressions and all their sins. And so shall he do for
the tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth among them in
the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in
the tabernacle of the congregation when Aaron goes in to make an
atonement in the holy place, until he come out and have made
an atonement for himself, for his household, all the congregation. If it doesn't come that way,
God said, I'll kill it. That's how serious it is. Presence
of the Lord. We're going to get into that
in just a few moments. Mike, you sing for us. Now, if
you care to, you can open your Bibles again to the book of Leviticus,
chapter 16. Now, when God created Adam, created man, made
woman out of the man. The Lord God had already prepared
the earth. He had already planted the trees
and the grass, made the streams and the mountains, this beautiful
dwelling place for man. And before man fell, before man
sinned, he had fellowship. with God. He had communion with
God. God spoke to Adam. Adam heard
God speak, and I'm sure Adam spoke to God. There was a fellowship. Adam walked with God. But after
Adam, who represented us, after Adam had determined to have his
own way, and that's what it boiled down to. Adam sinned, Adam failed,
but the cause of it was Adam would have his way. He submitted to the temptation of
Satan, who said, take the fruit, you'll be like God. You'll be
your own God. Do your own thing. Adam chose
his way. He chose to live without God.
That's what he's saying. I live without God. Who needs
God? And because of that sin, because of that fall, There was
no more fellowship with God. Adam ran and hid. There was no
more communion with God, no more familiar fellowship and communion. There was the pronouncement of
judgment on Adam and on his wife Eve and on the serpent. But there
was no fellowship. There was no communion with God.
Adam no longer walked with God. And God no longer spoke to Adam.
Like Isaiah said in Isaiah 59-2, your sins and transgressions
have separated you and your God. Your sins have come between you
and God as a separation. You see, this is what John is
talking about in 1 John, the restoration of fellowship. He
said our fellowship is with the Father and the Son. And if you
walk in the light as he is in the light, you have fellowship
with him, but you've got to walk in the light as he is in the
light. He's not going to fellowship with you in the mess you're in. Even under the Mosaic dispensation,
when God chose Israel, when God was pleased to bless this chosen
people, it was painfully evident that there was still a separation
between men and God. Because God had them build a
tabernacle, and in that tabernacle was a holy of holies where God
dwelt. He didn't dwell with the people.
He dwelt in the holy of holies. That's where his, Tom, his presence
was revealed, the Shekinah glory of God upon the mercy seat between
the cherubim. That was God's presence chamber,
not with the people. No fellowship with God. And what
he's showing us here in this scripture, that one man, once
a year, in the prescribed way, could come into God's presence.
One man, once a year, only in God's way, could come into God's
presence. And God would receive him. He
said, if he comes any other time, I'll kill him. If he comes any
other way, I'll kill him. If he comes with any other purpose,
I'll kill him. All right, if this is so significantly
and forcefully pointed out here to Moses, you take Moses now
and Aaron. God said, Moses, you tell Aaron,
don't come into the holy place, I'll kill him. I'll kill him. He wasn't talking about the sons
of Korah, he was talking about Aaron. I'll kill him. I'll destroy
him. I'll give you the way he's to
come into my presence, and that's the only way. So here's not an Aaron by any
means, or a Moses, God forbid. Here's just a son of Adam, just
a sinner, just a peanut from peanut country. How do I approach
God? How does a sinner come before
a holy God? How do I? People can go through
the religious motions and the religious jargon and the religious
cliches and all the religious carryings on and ceremonies and
rituals, but I want to know how I can come before God. How I
can approach a holy God. This God right here. Just one
God. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. And I don't want to come before
Him in judgment. I want to come before Him so as to be admitted.
and acquitted and accepted. That's what I'm interested in. And what I've been preaching
to you through the years is there is a way to come to God, and
this illustrates that way. This is what I've been trying
to preach. That from all eternity, God has
decreed and determined to show mercy to folks like us. who deserve
his wrath. God has determined to show mercy
to folks like you and me who deserve his wrath. I'm not saying
you deserve his wrath, only I deserve his wrath, and everybody else
does here. We're sinners, we transgress the law of God. We're
no different from my daddy Adam. But God has decreed to show mercy. He said, Moses, I will be merciful,
I will be gracious. God has purpose from all eternity
to admit some people into his presence, and to fellowship with
them, and to commune with them, and to accept them, and to forgive
them in a way consistent with his holiness, in a way consistent
with his righteousness. He'll do it in such a way that
he can still be God. He's got to do it that way, John.
He's got to do it in a way consistent with his character. I wouldn't
have God lower himself to help me. Because in the end, he wouldn't
help me. I'd go down with him. I wouldn't
have God. Would you have God compromise
His holiness to save your children? If He did, you'd be damned too. A God who can compromise is no
God. A God who can be any less than
He is, is no God. This is what the world, the world
of religion, this is what these fellas I listen to on television,
watch on the radio, They don't like the God of the Bible, so
they made them a God. They've taken the edge off His
holiness and the edge off His righteousness and the truth out
of His justice, and they brought Him down so that men can understand
Him. And He can be a buddy and a co-pilot
and a business partner and the man next door and the fella at
the other end of the hotline. But that God can't help me. I've got to have doings and dealings
with God as He is. That's my hope and that's my
help, is to have doings and dealings with God as He is, the living
God, the eternal God, because if He's immovable and unchangeable,
and if I can come to Him and get to Him and be accepted to
Him, I'll be immovable and unchangeable and immortal. See what I'm saying? But a whittled-down God and a
whittled-down gospel and a whittled-down salvation won't help me. It just
leaves me where I am, rejoicing in my misery and taking comfort
in lies and hiding in a refuge of lies and under falsehood.
That won't help me. I don't need that. I want God
to stay where He is and who He is and how He is and fix it consistent
with His justice and righteousness and holiness to enable me, the
son of Adam, the chief of centers to get into his presence. That's
exactly what he shows us here in Leviticus 16. And he picks
the chief of men, and the most prominent of men, and the most
powerful of men, Abraham and Moses, and shows how they come. Shows how they come. Now let's
look at Leviticus 16. Now this is before Christ came. And what I'm saying to you is
this, and I've said it to you so many times, it's like the
freight train going by the old farmhouse. Maybe you don't even
hear it anymore. But over and over again, the
Father preached the gospel of substitution to Israel through
types and patterns and pictures. He promised a Redeemer. He spoke
of the Redeemer. He pictured the Redeemer. He
prophesied the Redeemer. He showed in type and pattern
the Redeemer, and He showed He's unchangeable, the same yesterday,
today, and forever, and as He is here, He is now, and He always
will be. All right, let's look at the
text, Leviticus 16, 2. And the Lord speaks unto Moses,
and says, Speak unto Aaron, your brother, that he come not, that
he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil
before the mercy seat. which is upon the earth, that
ye die not. For I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat."
Are you with me? Here's the tabernacle out in
the wilderness. Here are the twelve tribes of Israel all around
the tabernacle. Here's the tabernacle in the
center. And in that tabernacle was a holy place. There was a
veil, four inches thick, from ceiling to floor, from wall to
wall, a veil. And behind that veil was the
Holy of Holies. the Holy of Holies, and in that
Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant. In that Ark of
the Covenant was the broken law, the testimony, it's called. And
over that Ark of the Covenant was a beaten gold mercy seat.
And on either end of the mercy seat were cherubims, winged creatures
facing one another, and in the center there was the Shekinah
glory of God. That's where God dwells, representatively. The heaven of heavens won't contain
God, but that's where God's hand and presence and manifestation
of his person was in that holy of holies, separated from the
people. Because God is infinitely holy
and the people are sinful. And two can't walk together except
they be aggrieved. God is here. God has separated
himself. He has isolated himself. He has
divided himself because of the sins of the people. And the Holy
of Holies is God's presence chamber. This is where God appears in
his righteous holiness. And no man can approach unto
the righteous holiness of God. No man can. God dwells in a light
to which no man can approach. eternal, invisible, almighty,
holy, and righteous. And here he is in that holy place.
And God said, Moses, tell Abram, the high priest who represents
the people, that he come not into the holy place at all times,
at any time. I'll kill him. He's not welcome. He cannot come. He's a man. He's
a sinner. He's corrupt. He's contaminated.
If he comes into God's presence, I'll cut him off. Isn't that
what he's saying? Now, here's the way he shall
come. Thus shall Aaron come. Now, are you Aarons listening?
Thus shall he come into my presence. Thus shall he come into the holy
presence. Thus shall he come into the holy
place. This is the way he'll come. Boy,
that's clear. Only one, that's Aaron. You say,
but there were other priests. Yes, there were other priests.
But he's pinpointed, designated Aaron. Who are you? Aaron, the high priest. And even
so, you and I are priests unto God, says that in Revelation.
He hath made us kings and priests unto God. But we don't come initially
into that holy place until Aaron comes, the high priest. Now don't,
please remember this. There's Aaron the high priest,
who wears the breastplate, who wears the twelve tribes of Israel
in the freshest stones, who wears the mitre on his head with the
beaten gold, holiness unto the Lord. Aaron, who wears the linen
white cloth. Aaron is the one who comes into
the presence of God. Aaron's the great high priest.
All the other priests serve and occupy the other places out yonder
in the tabernacle, but Aaron is the only one. Now here's how
he's to come. Look at verse 4. And he shall
put on the holy... Who is this Aaron? This is Christ. This is Christ. This is Christ,
our great high priest. You and I are priests unto God,
but we have a high priest. And that high priest is the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's a priest forever after the
order of Melchizedek. You see, even Aaron, who was
of the tribe of Levi, doesn't represent Christ. The sons of
Levi, the sons of Aaron, doesn't represent Christ accurately.
Christ is from the kingly tribe, Judah. And these sons of Abram
had a beginning and an end. They had a priesthood that was
short-lived, but our Lord has an everlasting priesthood. God
raised up a special high priest to represent Christ. That was
Melchizedek. He's a priest forever like Melchizedek.
All right, here's how Abram's to come. Now, verse 4. He shall
put on the holy linen coat. He shall have the linen breeches
upon his flesh, girded with a linen girdle, with a linen miser shall
he be attired. These are holy garments." In
other words, Avon is to be clothed only in white linen. Avon laid
aside the breastplate, laid aside the beaten gold, laid aside the
precious stones, and he's clothed, he stood out there as Moses clothed
him in only white linen. White linen. Our Aaron, the Lord
Jesus Christ, laid aside all of the significant marks of his
glory and clothed himself in human flesh. What kind of flesh? Sinless flesh. He had no sin. He was holy, harmless, undefiled. I'll show you that in a minute.
All right, watch this now. And he said, these are the holy
garments, verse 4, therefore shall he wash his flesh in water
and so put them on. I want you to turn with me to
the book of Exodus. Book of Exodus, chapter 30. And
I want you to listen how many times Abram washed himself. Washed
and washed and washed and washed and washed himself. In Exodus
30, verse 18, listen. Verse 17, the Lord said, Moses,
thou shalt also make a labor of brass, and his foot also of
brass, to wash withal. and thou shalt put it between
the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt
put water therein. And Abraham and his son shall
wash their hands and wash their feet thereat. When they go into
the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water that
they die not. When they come near to the altar
to minister, to burn offerings made by fire unto the Lord, so
shall they wash their hands and their feet that they die not."
You see, over and over again, they washed and washed. What
is all of this? Now, I'm trying to picture this,
there's no way you can simplify holiness and glory and salvation,
but here's the tabernacle, and here, over the mercy seat, is
the presence and the glory of God. Here's the ultimate goal,
God in His holiness, God in His righteousness, God in His justice
and truth, dwelling in the Holy of Holies. And here's a man God
has designated to come into His presence. representing the people. And God chooses that man, that
man Aaron, the high priest. Then God has Moses clothe him
in pure white linen, representing purity and holiness and incorruption. And then God has him go through
all of these ceremonies, wash, wash, wash, wash, wash. And even after he offered the
sacrifice and before he entered the tabernacle, wash again, wash
again. Well, hold that place and turn
to Hebrews 7. Hebrews 7. You see, representing our Lord
Jesus Christ, Avan went through all of this clothing himself
in white linen and washing to signify and to show the holiness
of Christ, the purity, the sinlessness of our high priest. In Hebrews
7, listen. Verse 25, verse 24, this man, talking of
Christ, because he continueth ever hath
an unchanging priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost evermore that come to God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such a high priest
became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,
made higher than the heavens, who need it not daily, as those
high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sin, then for
the people. For this he did once, when he
offered up himself." You see this? Holy, harmless, undefiled. That's what this verse is showing.
All right, now let's look at verses 5 through 8. Leviticus
16. And Aaron shall take of the congregation
of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for sin offering. Avon was to select two goats
for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. And Avon
shall offer the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself,
and make an atonement for himself and for his house. And he shall
take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door
of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Avon shall cast lots upon
the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the
scapegoat." Now here's what he's saying. After Avon is cleansed
himself, adorned in the white linen. He shall select two kid
goats and a ram. The ram is to be killed and sacrificed
for his sins, and for the sins of his house, and for the sins
of his sons who were priests. But then there are two goats
over here, and he's to cast lots on them. One goat is to be slain
and his blood put on the mercy seat. The other goat is a scapegoat. And both of these goats represent
Christ and His sacrifice. I'm going to show you that. Let's
look at verse 12 now, Leviticus 16. Chapter 16, verse 12. All right, Aaron has attired
himself in the white linen, washed himself. He's slain the goat. He's prepared to come to the
holy place, but first there's something that must be done,
verse 12. And he shall take a censer. I believe that's something on
a chain. There's a bottom out here like this, out of brass. And he used to go there, right
in front of that great veil behind which God dwelt in his holiness,
was an altar of incense. It burned 365 days a year and
24 hours a day. That represents the prayers of
Christ. But in the tabernacle, in the holy place, there was
the candlestick, which is Christ, the light of the world. There's
the table of showbread, which is Christ, our bread of life.
And there was the altar of incense, which burned all the time. And
David was to come and bring that censer, and he was to get coals
from the fire. And he was to carry in his hand
some incense, beaten and fine. Then when he got under that veil
and got into the holy of holies, into the presence of God, Put
that incense on that fire immediately. That's what it says. Put that
broken, crushed incense on that fire. And the smoke from that
incense just covered that altar. I'm going to read it to you here. Verse 12. And he shall take a
censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before
the Lord, his hands full of sweet incense, beating small, and bring
it within the veil. And he shall put the incense
upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may
cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony that he died
on." What's all this say? It's saying this, that it doesn't
matter how sincere we are. And this includes Mama and Daddy
and our precious aunts and uncles and those good neighbors That
preacher down the road, the fellow that we meet on the street with
his collar turned around and his robes and the man over in
Rome and all the different religionists. All of our worship, all of our
coming to God, all of our efforts, God despises and rejects and
resists without the intercession of Christ. That incense represents the prayers
and intercession of Christ. And even when Aaron, designated
by God, even Aaron who came with the blood, even Aaron who came
under the veil, even Aaron who represented the people, came
into God's presence, what he was doing had to be made holy
by Christ. It had to be. The very presence
of God had to be wrapped in and clothed with. the presence and
prayers of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's to no avail. It doesn't
matter how sincere it is. It doesn't matter how sacrificial
it is. It doesn't matter how kind it
is. It's still human. It's still
flesh. It's still sin without the prayers and intercession
of Christ. Now that's just so. Now look at verse 14. And he
shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with
his finger upon the mercy seat eastward, before the mercy seat
shall he sprinkle the blood seven times." Seven is the number of
perfection. Oh, I've heard preachers say
he even took the blood and poured it on the mercy seat. That's
not what it says here. That's not what it says. He takes his finger
and he's standing facing the mercy seat. There's the eastern
gate out there behind him, right? And he's to put the blood eastward
toward himself. There's significance for all
this. I don't know it all. But I'm simply saying Aaron is
Christ. Aaron is Christ, our great high
priest. And here is the holy presence of God Almighty dwelling
in the presence chamber in a designated place, and Aaron's doing all
this, showing how sinners should approach God through Christ.
And Avon comes in here and brings the blood atonement and sprinkles
it on the mercy seat. Sprinkles it on the mercy seat.
And verse 16 says, He shall make an atonement for the holy place
because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And our
Lord Jesus Christ died himself on the cross of Calvary. You
see, Avon was a priest, and there were many high priests after
him. Christ is the one high priest. Avon came into a visible tabernacle,
Christ went into heaven itself. Avon brought the blood of animals,
Christ took his own blood. The blood which Avon offered
could not put away sin, but Christ with one offering put it away
forever. Now turn with me to Hebrews 9. Now hold Leviticus
16, turn to Hebrews 9. And this will help you see what
he's saying in all of this. Hebrews 9, look at this. Hebrews
9, 11. Well, let's begin with verse
6, Hebrews 9, 6. Now, when these things were thus
ordained, the priest went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing
the service of God. But into the second went the
high priest alone, once every year, not without blood, which
he offered for himself and for the sins of the people. The Holy
Ghost this signified, that the way into the holiest of all was
not yet made manifest while that first tabernacle was standing.
which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered
gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service
perfect as pertained to the conscience. These things stood only in meats
and drinks and different baptisms and washings and carnal ordinances
imposed on them until the time of Christ. But Christ being come,
a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
this building, but his own body, neither by the blood of goats
and caves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." You got it
now? That's what Leviticus 16 is a
picture. Now turn back to Leviticus 16, let me show you verse 17.
Verse 17, Leviticus 16, "...and there shall no man There shall
be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when Abram goes
in to make an atonement in the holy place. He did it alone. And the work of Christ is unaided.
He by himself purged our sins. There's no help from the preacher
or the church or anyone else. You, Christ, did it all. You see that? So you turn to
Hebrews 10 now. Hebrews 10. Verse 9, here's the
tabernacle. Then said he, Lo, I come to do
thy will. Hebrews 10, 9. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second. First tabernacle,
Christ is our tabernacle. First high priesthood, Christ
is our high priesthood. By the which will we're sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
That's how we're sanctified, that's how we're accepted, that's
how we're acquitted, that's how we're justified, that's how we
come. Read on. Every priest standeth daily, ministering, offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices. Aaron had to do this every year,
which can never take away sin. But this man, after he'd offered
one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. In other words, we still have a high priest. Where
is he? He's in the holy place at the right hand of God. Read
on. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified, whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that he hath said before,
This is the covenant I will make with them after these days, saith
the Lord. I will put my law in their hearts, in their minds
will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. Now where remission of these
is, there is no more offering. Preacher, why don't we do that
today? Christ has offered the effectual sacrifice. Why don't
we have a high priest, like they do in the Catholic Church, to
go way back there in the back room and sprinkle some blood
for us? Christ is our high priest. And He has died, and He put away
our sins, and our sins are remembered no more. Read on. Verse 18, where
remission is, there's no more offering for sin. There's no
more sacrifice. Watch it now, verse 19. Having
therefore, brethren, all of us, boldness to enter the holiest
house by the blood of Jesus. If you'd have lived in the days
of Moses, you'd have never come into the presence of God. He
went into it once a year. But now, because Christ, our
high priest, has shed his blood, his prayers of intercession,
the sweet incense, when Christ died, that veil was reddened,
too, from top to bottom, pulled apart. And God said, come on
in. And that's how this morning we
could assemble here and we could say, praise God, from whom all
blessings flow. And God says, I receive you,
and I receive your praise, and I receive your sacrifice of thanksgiving. You receive me into the holiest
of all? How? Through Christ, the high
priest, through the blood of Christ, through the prayers of
Christ. Young people, that's how you
come to God. Through Christ. What if a man
rejects this? Then the same thing, man rejected
Abraham, gone into the Holy of Holies, God had killed him, and
God's going to kill them all. Yeah, but they're so sincere. So was
Uzziah, God killed him. So was the guy that touched the
ark, God killed him. Huh? That's right. And God's going to kill every
sincere religionist that does not come in the name of Christ
and through the blood of Christ. That's right. I'm not being tough. I'm being scriptural. Moses? Moses, God said, speak to Aaron
and tell him, don't come into the holy place. I'll kill him.
That's all I'm doing. I'm speaking to you, and I'm
saying don't come. But Mama came this way. No, she
didn't. She played like she was coming,
but she didn't come to God. She talked to him. Well, Daddy,
my old preacher back in the country, he... No, he didn't. He said
he did, but he didn't. That's what he said. That's what
he said. That's what God said. Why would
you want to come any other way? This way is sure. I lay in Zion
a foundation that's sure! This way's sure! Why you want
to come any other way? That's what baffles and bum-puzzles
me. Why they want to try the water
when the blood's flowing from the cross? Why do they want to
try walking down the aisle and shaking the preacher's hand when
Christ walked into the Holy of Holies with His own blood? Why
not go in there with Him? He's welcome. You're not, except
in Him. You say, brother man, there was
another goat there called a scapegoat. We should talk about that a little
bit. You know, he took two goats. One was for the blood offering,
the atonement, which Aaron brought into the Holy... And then he
came out. And you know what he did with the scapegoat? He put
his hands on the head of the scapegoat and confessed their
sins. And then there was a fit man
designated, and the people were all around. And that man put
a lasso around that goat's neck, and then he led him right out
through the people, and they just parted. They parted. And here he came with that goat
that had all the sins of Israel laid on him, confessed on him
by the representative high priest, Hagar. And they all watched,
and he walked over that sand dune, down in the valley, and
they saw him come up, the goat and the man. And he kept getting
smaller and smaller and smaller. They about stood there. This
was a solemn occasion. They watched him go. Smaller and smaller. Finally, they strained their
eye, and all they could see on the horizon, there were just
two dots, a man and a goat. And then they were gone. And
days passed. And one day they looked, and
here came the man. Here came the man, but he didn't have the
goats. What'd he do with them? He left
them out there. And that's what Christ did, our
scapegoat. All our sins were laid on Him.
And the Father led Him out into the wilderness. And they're gone. All of them. And I'm telling
you, don't look for the goats. People are bound and determined
to go hunting that goat. They do it when they go to bragging
about their past. I was a real stinker. Yeah. Won't
you leave that goat out there? Won't tell you about the way
I used to live. No, I'd rather you leave that
goat out there. Well, my sins are so many, I don't believe
God and say, won't you leave the goat out there? Huh? Why you keep bringing that? I
tell you one thing, it indicates that you never did believe Him.
The scapegoat is gone. My sins are gone. Separated from
me as far as the east is from the west. And I can come to God
because in Christ I'm holy. Do you see it? Do you see it? Well, that's the gospel. I wish I could, in some way,
I could get everybody to see that. Let's stand and sing number
222. 222.