I would like for you to open
your Bibles to Exodus 20. And let me show you something here
in Exodus 20. We read here of the giving of the
law of God. In verse 18 it says, And all
the people saw the thunderings and lightnings, and the noise
of the trumpet, and the mountains smoking. And when the people
saw it, they removed and stood afar off." The people of Israel
stood before this tremendous mountain of God. And God Almighty
was pleased to reveal His glory. He was pleased to speak. He said
in verse 1, "...and the Lord spake, and God spake." He spake
forth his law. He said, I am the Lord thy God,
which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Thou shalt have
no other God before me. He said, Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven image. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain. He said, Remember the ordained
day, the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor your father and
mother. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Thou shalt not covet. He spake forth this law, and
the people saw the glory of God. They saw the holiness of God.
His holiness was manifested. They saw it much like Isaiah
saw it. In Isaiah 6, when he said, I
saw the Lord high and lifted up. His train of glory filled
the temple. The creatures of heaven covered
their faces, and their feet, and their ears, and their eyes.
And they cried, holy, holy, holy. And then he said, I cried, oh,
woe is me. Job had this experience. He saw
the glory of God, the holiness of God. Most men have never seen
this sight. Like Job, they've heard of it.
They've heard the words, the frail words of preachers trying
to describe the holiness of God. Here I am floundering around
this morning trying to talk about the holiness of God. And Job
said, I've heard of you. by the hearing of the ear. I've
heard all these things, but now mine eye seeth thee, in your
power, in your might, in your glory, in your holiness, in your
righteousness, in your justice, and I hate myself. I repent in
sackcloth and ashes. I hate myself." Daniel. Daniel
said, when I saw the Lord, my comeliness, my flesh melted into
corruption. John, the beloved apostle, who
at one time laid his head on the chest of his beloved master. He was content to just lie there
on his breast. And he talked about being the
disciple whom Jesus loved. And yet, on the Isle of Patmos,
when our Lord spoke to him, when he turned and saw him in his
glory, John fell at his feet, he said, like a dead man. I fell
at his feet as a dead man. And here in this text, what I'm
saying is these people, verse 18, saw, they saw the manifested,
as much as human eye can and still live, not be burnt out,
they saw something of the holiness and the majesty and the righteousness
of God. And what was their reaction?
It said in verse 18, and when the people saw it, they didn't run up and say, glory
to God, what a vision. They removed and stood afar off. They left that place. They backed
up. They backed away. They realized
what 90% of religionists never realize. These people realized
what you and I had better come to grips with, and that pretty
soon. Pretty soon. With a clear understanding. Three things. They realized,
number one, how holy and righteous and almighty and just and unapproachable
God is. God, let me tell you something,
God is unapproachable. as far as this flesh is concerned.
Ain't no way, Paul, Coon, God's unapproachable for you. Absolutely,
you're whistling in the dark, you're believing a lie, you're
building on a false foundation to think that God Almighty in
His holiness and righteousness will entertain and have communion
with a son of Adam, a fallen, wretched rebel, reprobate like
you are by nature. He ain't going to do it. He'll
not be spoken to by you. And He'll not speak to you. Is
that wrong? That's right, Cecil. Is that
right? Nod your head that way. You know it's right. I know it's
right. God Almighty is unapproachable
by human flesh. You're not going to get in His
presence. There's no way you're going to get in His presence.
There's no way in this world. And anybody, this is the second
thing, we'd better learn this. And these people knew it, they
said, Moses, look at verse 19, they said, Moses, speak thou
with us, speak with us and we'll listen. Don't let God speak to
us or we'll die. I don't want God to speak to
me. I want nothing to do, let me tell you something, go out
and quote me, but quote it right. I want nothing to do with an
absolute God. Nothing. I want nothing to do
with Him. Not a thing. I want one thing
to do with an absolute God. On a one-on-one basis, I want
nothing to do with Him. I don't want Him speaking to
me, and I don't want to speak to Him. No, sir. And anybody here who wants any
hope or comfort or communion with God is going to have to
have some between you and God. It's got to be. These people
realize that. They're as dumb as an ox, and
they realize that. They never heard the gospel message
in faith, and they realized it. They said, Moses, don't let God
speak to us, or we'll die. Moses, don't let God speak to
us. Get between us and God in a hurry. Get between us and God. God Almighty, if you are going
to do any business with God, you're going to have to have
a mediator, you're going to have to have a priest. You've got
to have a priest. God is absolute, holy. God Almighty
is so holy, He cannot have anything to do with anything that's not
holy, that's not perfect and sinless. He can't have anything
to do with it. He can't touch it, accept it,
look upon it, or have communion with it. Anything that's not
absolutely perfect. And you and I can't produce anything
that's not evil. You can take the best thing you've
ever done, the best prayer you've ever prayed, the best gift you've
ever given, the best sermon you've ever preached, and it's imperfect. We know in part, we preach in
part, we see through a glass so obscurely and dimly, it's
going to shock you to realize how little we do know. In my flesh, the great apostle
Paul said, dwelleth not one good thing. In the flesh, no man can
please God. Now, those three things are so. These pieces, it's revealed right
here, and we'd better get a grasp on it. We'd better get a hold
of it. And these silly preachers that
are talking about, that God said this to me this morning, and
I said this to God, and all this sort of thing, you know. God Almighty is absolutely, immaculately,
infinitely holy. And you and I are unchangeably
evil. The leper cannot change his spots,
and the black man his skin, and neither can you do one good thing
that are accustomed to doing evil. Everything you think and
say and do is imperfect. It may be pleasing to the ear
of men and to your own heart, but to God it's displeasing,
even the plowing of the wicked is sin. I want to show you the story
of a man who tried to go into God's presence without a priest.
Turn to 2 Chronicles 26. 2 Chronicles 26. And this man was a great king. His name was Uzziah. He was king
of Israel. He was king of Israel in 2 Chronicles
26. Look at it. But when he was strong,
verse 16, got it? Verse 16 of 2 Chronicles 26,
and the king was strong, successful, and his heart was lifted up to
his destruction. He transgressed against the Lord
his God. He went into the temple of the
Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. Now, he didn't go
out and kill anybody. He didn't go out and rob a bank.
He didn't go out and betray his nation. He didn't go out and
kidnap an infant. He went to the temple, into the
holy place, to burn incense before the Lord. That's what this man
did. He did the very same thing that 90% of the religionists
are doing today. They're bypassing the priest
and going to God. They're ignoring Jesus Christ.
He's our priest. They're ignoring the mediator.
Look at it. And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him
fourscore priests, eighty of them, valiant men, and they withstood
the king. And they said, It appertaineth
not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to
the priest, the sons of Abel. It's not your place, it's not
your business, you can't do it, it's the priest's business. Get
out of the sanctuary, you've trespassed. Neither shall it
be for your honor. I don't care how serious you
are, how sincere you are, how dedicated you are, how great
or famous you are. This ain't going to work for
your honor. You're taking on yourself. Something
doesn't belong to you." Then Uzziah was angry, and he
had a censer in his hand to burn incense. He did it anyhow. And
while he was angry with the priest, the leprosy rose up in his forehead
before the priest in the house of God from beside the incense
altar. And Azariah the chief priest
and all the priests looked on him, and behold, he was leprous
in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence. Yea, himself hasted also to get
out, because God smote him." God Almighty had smitten him,
and he was a leper to the day of his death. And he dwelt in
a several house. Being a leper, he was cut off
from the house of the Lord, cut off. And Jothun, his son, was
over the king's house and judged the people." It seemed like an
awful good thing to do there, a priest, to go worship God down
at the temple. It seemed like an awful good
thing there to get some incense and put it in a censer and wave
it before God. I tell you, I don't care how
sincere you are, I don't care how ignorant you are, I don't
care how great you are or what day or generation, the presence
of God is not open to a sinner apart from a mediator. It is
not open. Now you can, apart from a...
Let me tell you something. Here sums it up. The presence
of God is not open to any son of Adam apart from a suitable
sacrifice in the hands of a suitable priest. And that's where it is. A suitable sacrifice in the hands
of a suitable priest. And God's ordained both. He's
ordained both. All right? It's fair for you
to ask this question. Turn to Hebrews 4. It's fair
for you to ask this question. And what I'm doing this morning,
I'm not entertaining men on the road to hell. I'm trying to tell
you the truth. I'm trying to... Is there a way
to God? Will God show mercy? Is there
a way? Here I am. Is there any way for me into
the presence of an awesome, immaculate, eternal, infinitely holy God? Can anybody do business with
God? How is it, preacher, you claim fellowship with God? I
heard John talk about his fellowship with God. The disciples talked
about their fellowship with God. How is it you pray? You said
a while ago, Our Father which art in heaven. Didn't I say that
a while ago? Jay said that. Our Father which
art in heaven. How do you come before Him, worship
Him, and pray to Him? Because we have a priest. We have an advocate. We have
a mediator. I do not go directly to God.
I go through Christ. I go through the priest. Now,
let me show you that in Hebrews 4, verse 14. Seeing then, we
have a great high priest. Now, my friends, it's not Aaron.
He was a type. It's not the Pope. He is an imposter. It's not you or me or your preacher. It's Jesus Christ. He is our
priest. We have a priest. Verse 14, that is passed into
the heavens, it's Jesus, the Son of God, He is our priest. And verse 15, He's not a high
priest that doesn't know anything about you, which can't be touched
with your... Oh, He knows, God understands,
that's what Mike said. He knows your sorrows and trials
and troubles and temptations, infirmities, afflictions, your
flesh. You say, I just don't feel like
coming to the Lord this morning. I'm just so sinful in my thoughts
and way. He knows those things. He's been
tested just like you. That's what it says. He's been
tempted. He's not an unidentifiable priest. He can be identified
with you. He was numbered with the transgressors.
That's right. He was tested in every point
you're tested. Here's the key, yet without sin.
yet without sin. So therefore, verse 16, let us
therefore come boldly to the throne of grace. Let us come
boldly into God's presence. Why? Seeing we have a priest. See what I'm saying? Seeing we
have a mediator, seeing we have an advocate, seeing we have someone
suitable with a suitable sacrifice standing between us and the Father. And we can come boldly. And we
can obtain what? Mercy. That's what we're looking
for, mercy. And grace in time of our need.
Turn to Hebrews 10. You won't understand the book
of Hebrews at all unless you get a grasp on this very thing
that I'm preaching this morning. We have a priest. Hebrews 10,
verse 19, "...having therefore, brethren, boldness." liberty,
confidence to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us sinners,
guilty sinners, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, and
having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near. But, buddy, if you don't have
him, you better not come. All you azzars will be smitten,
stricken, and cut off. Just mess around with it, if
you want to find out what I'm talking about. Just try to do
away with the Son of God, with the righteousness of Christ,
with the mediatorial work of Christ, with the intercessory
work of Christ, the pleading work of Christ, the precious
blood of Christ. You just bypass it. You just
go around that priest like Isaiah did, and in your arrogance and
pride and self-righteousness, rush into the temple of God,
and He'll smite you with a leprosy of eternal damnation. There won't
even be any argument. There won't even be a trial.
Almighty God will cast you out. This high priest is Jesus Christ. And let me tell you something.
We can't come to God without Him. He said, I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. We can't come without Him. Bless God, we can come in
Him. We can come in Him. And no one
is barred from coming in Christ. Through Christ, by Christ, no
one's barred. Everybody's barred without Christ. But there's nobody
barred from coming to God in Christ. If you can lay hold of
Christ, if you can believe on the Son of God, if you can rest
in Christ, you can come. He said, come unto me, all ye
that labor in a heavy laden. Come unto me. Oh, he said, everybody
that's thirsty, everybody that's stripped, everybody that's broken,
everybody that's weary, everybody that's needy, come to the water,
come and drink. Don't bring money or price or
anything. Just come empty-handed. Just come on. Come on. You can't come without Him. But
bless God, anybody can come in Him. Anybody. I don't care who it is. I'll
go out here and say it to the black and white, old and young,
rich and poor, drunks and sober. Come on if you're hungry. if
you're thirsty. But my friend, come to Christ. Come through Christ. Come by
the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't come any other way.
Let me tell you who He is. Let me tell you who He is in
chapter 3, verse 1. Listen to this. Let me tell you
who He is. And I tell you this, if you can
get a hold of this, you got a hold of the gospel. You can walk out
of here springing on your feet. You can walk out of here with
joy in your heart. You can walk out of here with
the praise of God on your lips. You can walk out of here knowing
that you can pray, you can worship, you can find fellowship with
God. In chapter 3, verse 1, it says,
"...Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
let us consider Let's meditate upon, let's think upon, let's
give some thought to the apostle and high priest of our profession,
Jesus Christ. The high priest. Have you thought
about him being the high priest? What about him? Who is he? Let's
think about who he is. Let me take just a moment and
consider who he is. First thing I know about him,
he's greater than all the prophets. Paul said over here in Hebrews
1 verse 1, God, who at different times and in different manners
spake to our fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
to us by his Son. By his Son. And his Son, listen
to this, his Son, not a servant, but his Son. Not an ambassador,
or his Son. He's spoken to us by his Son.
And he says he's the heir of all things, by whom he made the
world. He's the brightness of God's
glory. He is the exact image of God's person. He sustains
and preserves all things, and he's at God's right hand. That's
who I'm talking about. That's my priest. That's my great
high priest, none other than the Son of God. Now, that's influence. You know, we always, all of us
got this in us, you know. We're name droppers. If we go to a certain place,
we say, well, do you know so-and-so? I know him. He's the main piston
rod of this country. I know him, you see. That makes
me somebody special, because I know so-and-so. Well, let me
tell you who I know. My great high priest, the one,
my advocate, my personal lawyer, my mediator is none other than
God's Son, who is the heir of all things, by whom God made
the worlds, who is the brightness of God's glory and the exact
image of his person by whom God sustains all things. And you
know where he is? He's at the Father's right hand.
That's right. And look at chapter 1, verse
4. He's greater than the angels. My high priest is greater than
the angels. Verse 4, he's made so much better than the angels. So much better as he hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name. Which of the angels did
God say at any time, you, my son? Huh? Not a one of them.
And God said, verse 6, let all the angels of God worship Him. Worship my Mediator. Worship
my High Priest. They're His angels, verse 7,
and of the angels, He said, who maketh His angels. They're His
angels. In verse 8, His is an eternal
throne. Thy throne, O God, is forever.
And he's, verse 9, anointed above all his fellows. There's not
one creature in God's universe that's anointed with higher name
and gladness than Christ. And verse 10, he was in the beginning
when God laid the foundations of the world. That's my high
praise, Paul. Now, you want to come, I'm picking on you this
morning, you're right in front of me. But if you want to come,
I'll tell you by whom you can come. Don't you try it. God will
smite you. God will destroy you. He'll annihilate
you. But now, if you want to come,
you're welcome. But come through Christ. He's
God's Son. And He's greater than Moses even.
There's no reason I commend Him. He's greater than the prophets.
He's greater than the angels. He's greater than Moses. How
would you like to have Moses on your side? Much obliged, I
don't care for that. I'd rather have Christ. You have
Moses. You're welcome. You and Moses
go on down the road. That's all right. I'm going to
stick with Jesus. He's my high priest because He's
greater than Moses. Look at chapter 3, verse 3. This man was counted
worthy of more glory than Moses. Oh, I feel sorry for those Israelites
when our Lord was standing there and said something to them. They
said, we have Moses. We have Moses. And I'm sure our
Lord looked at them and thought, He can't do you any good. He
can't do you any good. Moses needs a mediator. Moses
was a sinner. We have Moses. We have Moses. He's greater than Moses inasmuch
as he that built the house is greater than the house. That's
how much. All right, notice the second thing about him. Let's
see who ordained him. Chapter 5. You see, these priests
of old, they were selected from among men. They were selected
from among men. And they were selected among
men so that they could have compassion on men. An angel would make a
poor mediator because he doesn't know the person for whom he's
mediating. A fellow would be a poor mediator that didn't know
or wasn't identified or hadn't lived with a man for whom he
was pleading. See what I'm saying? And it says
in chapter 5, every high priest, verse 1, taken from among men,
and Christ became a man, is ordained for men in things pertaining
to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sin.
And he's a man who can have compassion on the ignorant. Compassion on
the ignorant. A man can't represent another
unless he has compassion on him, unless he understands him, unless
he's been where he is. And on them that are out of the
way, he himself is compassed with infirmity. And by reason
hereof, he ought, as for the people, so also for himself to
offer for sin. That's just how priests are taken. And no man takes this honoring
to himself. He's not volunteers. He that's called of God, as Abram
was, so also Christ glorified not himself to be made a high
priest. But he that said to him, Thou
art my son, he made him the high priest. Got it? It's so plain
you'd have to be a dumb rebel not to see it. That's all there
is to it. I tell you, people that don't
believe the gospel don't want to believe it. That's exactly
right. People that can't see the way
of life, they don't want to see it. That's as clear as anything
in this world. He says here, we have a high
priest. And because we have a high priest,
let us come boldly, that we may find mercy to help. and grace
in our time of need. Seeing we have a high priest
over the house of God, let us come bold into his presence.
And that high priest is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who's
greater than the prophets, greater than the angels, and greater
than Moses. And it says here, just like those
Ava and those men, they didn't volunteer to be priests, God
made them priests. And he took them from among men,
so that they could have compassion on the ignorant and understand
and permit it, because they themselves are men and they can come to
God with a proper suitable sacrifice for themselves and for their
people. Even so, he said, even my son, Jesus Christ, didn't
make himself the one great high priest, I made him the priest.
I made him the putscher. I set him apart. I anointed him. I ordained him. All right, let
me show you something else. Hebrews 7. Just consider it. His priesthood is unchanging.
Unchanging. Now, these fellows, Abel and
the rest of them, their priesthood changed. They were born, lived
like little boys, and all grew up, became priests, and then
died, and their priesthood was over. But our Lord Jesus Christ has
an unchanging priesthood. Hebrews 7.22, look at it. Those
priests were made without an oath, for those priests were
made without an oath, but this was an oath by him that said
unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, thou art a priest
forever," talking about Christ, after the order of Melchizedek.
Look at verse 17. Thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. Let me tell you about this. You
see, Abraham This was back before Moses and the tabernacle and
the priesthood was ordained. Abraham was coming back from
the slaughter of the kings. And he met this person called
Melchizedek. Go back here to chapter 7, verse
1. You with me? This Melchizedek,
king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham
returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all that ordained tithe,
First being by interpretation King of Righteousness, after
that also King of Salem, King of Peace. Watch it, without father,
without mother, without descent or pedigree, having neither beginning
of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God,
abiding a priest continually. You say, who in the world was
that? I don't know, I believe it was Christ. I believe it was
Christ. It has to be Christ. There can't
be a rival to Christ out there somewhere. If Melchizedek has
an endless priesthood, he's still got one. In other words, if he's
without mother or father, he's still living. And that can't
be so. That can't be so. See, that Melchizedek
is Christ. And you see, what I'm saying
here is God is holy, we're sinful. Our only way to God is through
a high priest. I got the same high priest Abraham had. I got
the same high priest Abraham had. I got the same high priest
has always been the high priest. From eternity to eternity, that's
Christ. You say, what about Aaron, the sons of Levi? Those fellas
were pictures and types that God used for a while, for dispensation,
to give us a better understanding of the work of Christ. You see,
if Melchizedek just, if Christ the Son of... You see, Christ
can't be a type of himself. We can't go on Melchizedek. We've
got to have something, Jay, we can understand a little more,
something we can enter into a little more. That's the reason the tabernacle
was built, and the veil was put in there, and the sacrifices,
and the altar of incense, and the priesthood, to bring it down
like our Lord taught in parables, down to our understanding so
we can grasp it a little better. But Melchizedek, this is our
Lord Jesus Christ, is the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ is our Passover. When those people
were eating the Passover, they were just eating a picture. Christ
is our Passover. When Moses smote that rock, he
just smote a picture. Christ is that rock. Everything
that was done in the old days, He is our surety. When Moses
pleaded for God, it was Christ pleading for Israel. It was Christ
pleading for Israel. He has an unchanging priesthood.
I read these preachers and they disturb me. They talk about Christ
almost as if He began in Bethlehem, and that He took up His work,
and then after He died, He became a priest. Now, wait a minute.
He is our priest. He has an unchanging priesthood.
Everything else had its start and finish, and its pictorial
work, its types and shadows. But Christ, He is our priest.
He is our preacher. And these things that were done
in the Old Testament were done as pictures, and then when He
came, that we might recognize Him when He came. He died according
to the Scriptures. He was buried according to the
Scriptures. He rose again according to the Scriptures. You see all
those things, and the Holy Spirit came according to the Scriptures.
God laid the pattern in the pictures over here that when He came,
He would be identifiable. Because, wait a minute, When
he sat down and taught his disciples, turn to Luke 24 and let me show
you this. When he sat down and taught his disciples about his
death, burial, and resurrection, he took them to the Old Testament
scriptures. And he said, look at verse 26
of Luke 24, he said to verse 25, O fools and slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have spoken, with pictures and
types and shadows and symbols. Ought not Christ have suffered
these things? and to have entered into his glory. So beginning
at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the
scriptures the things concerning himself. He said, see, here it
is. This is what I'm doing. This is what I'm doing. This
is a full film of what's written. Verse 44, "...and he said to
them, These are the words I have spoken to you while I was with
you, that all things must be fulfilled which are written in
the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, in the Psalms concerning me.
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
Scriptures. And he said, Thus it is written, thus it behoove
Christ to suffer, to rise again the third day." You see, this
is a fulfillment. But his priesthood is unchanging.
Now turn to Hebrews 8. Let me show you something else
about his priesthood. I tell you, This is so encouraging
to me, this is so enlightening, this is so comforting, isn't
it to you? When I know what manner of flesh I am, what manner of
man I am, what a sinner, what a needy creature, what impossibility,
when I know more and more of the glory of God. Somebody asked
me one day, why is it as we grow older we feel like we're greater
sinners? I think it's because we see more
of the glory of God. I don't think you're getting
any worse. I think you're about as bad as you can be anyway.
When you're born, you're about as bad as you can be. You're
born depraved. You're born dead. You're born
nothing deader than dead. But you had a little God. And
the greater God became, the more you saw of yourself. The greater
His glory and His majesty. I'm more reluctant to pray than
I've ever been. Somebody's not going to interpret
that right. But I'll tell you the truth.
I see a need of Christ more every day. More every day. God's holy. And this little word
of prayer, I about left that little word of prayer. Ain't
nothing little about a word of prayer. No sir, I about having
a little talk with Jesus. I about ready to not have any
more of those. Blasphemy. Blasphemy. God is great. God is holy. God is magnificent,
almighty. You say you pray less? No, don't
pray less. Don't pray less. Cry more and
pray less, maybe. Groan more. Weep more. Notice the place of his ministry,
Hebrews 8. Now, verse 1, "...of the things
which we have spoken." This is the psalm. We have a high priest. Where is he? He's set on the
right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heaven. He's a
minister of the sanctuary of the true tabernacle, the true
tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. Oh my soul, where
is he? Let's look at Hebrews 9, 23. Hebrews 9.23, watch this, this
is so enlightening, "...it was therefore necessary that the
pattern of things in the heavens should be purified with these,"
talking about the types, "...but the heavenly things themselves
with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into
the holy place made with hands, which is a figure of the truth,"
but watch this, "...into heaven itself." Now to appear in the
presence of God for us. Think about it. Israel stood
outside that tabernacle and the high priest, Designate, went
there with the offering, the blood, into the holy place where
the candlesticks were burning and the bread and the incense
was picturing the prayers of Christ going up to heaven. He
got under the veil and went there into the Holy of Holies. And
there the Ark of the Covenant with a broken law and a mercy
seat, the golden mercy seat. He took that blood and the smoke
filled that place and he poured that blood on the mercy seat
and it just ran off down there. The blood covered the broken
law, our sins, in type. But it says here that Christ
our Lord didn't go into this hell. When He died, that veil
was rent in two, just like God took it at the top and tore it
in two. And our Lord went into the presence of God, into heaven
itself. Now, if Israel could stand out
here, waiting on that priest with his tinkling bells tied
on the bottom of his garment to come out there, and when he
walked out, a cheer went up. Whoa! Hooray! Hooray! The priest
came out! God accepted the sacrifice! Just
in that 45 by 15 tabernacle. Brother, when I think that the
man, A man from among men, the man Christ Jesus, went not into
the tabernacle, but into heaven itself, not with the blood of
an animal, but with his own blood, and not on a box, but before
the God of glory in all his majesty and splendor and greatness. And
God accepted his sacrifice for man. Boy, you talk about a holy
rover. You talk about an amen. It looks
like somebody would say amen. It looks like it. Well, we just
haven't seen our sin or his glory or his majesty or his greatness,
or somebody would have to weep for joy, or somebody would have
to get excited, somebody would have to say amen. Somebody would
have to cry, have to go up. But now we've made our decision.
We believe Jesus died on the cross and the rest is up to us.
We believe Jesus died on the cross. The evangelist came to
town and was having a meeting. He said, do you want to meet
Mother in Heaven? I said, yes. He said, you don't want to go
to hell, do you? And I said, no. He said, do you
believe Jesus died on the cross? I said, yes. He said, well, you
shake my hand and accept Jesus. I said, yes. He said, be here
for baptism next Sunday night. And I was baptized, and I'd been
tithing. going to church on Sunday and reading my Bible. And I got
a hold of the doctrines of grace when a fellow came around and
preached it, and that made me feel a little bit better. But
I'm doing the best I can, and I made my peace with God. Going
to hell just so fast, you're going to kick up dust in the
devil's face. That's what Ralph used to say. It's sad, but oh,
when we realize, when we get a glimpse, when somebody with
the courage and boldness of a Paul comes along and preaches who
God is, And we're smitten down in the dust, as Scott said, make
our headquarters there with the pigs in the pig pen. And in the
cesspool, we're stripped and broken and laid out and laid
bare. And he talked to us about decisions.
We need a mediator. We need a high priest. We need
an advocate. We need somebody to plead our
case and our cause. We need him. And oh, if somebody
comes along and the Holy Spirit uses the Word to show us Christ,
Christ, not a law or a rule or a statute or a commandment or
a confession of faith, but Christ, our great high priest. And he
takes his precious blood, those Old Testament priests, there
were many of them, he won. They were but men, he's God's
man. They were priests only while they lived, he's eternal. They
offered sacrifices for their sin, he had none. They offered
many sacrifices, he won. They offered animal blood, he
his own blood. Their blood couldn't do anything,
His could. They appeared in a holy place,
He appeared in heaven. They continually stood, He offered
His sacrifice and sat down. And brother, I got a hope, because
He's my high priest. I didn't make any decision about
His death, but I'll tell you this, God Almighty, the Holy
Spirit, has given me an understanding about His intercession. It is
intercession. It is done, the great transaction's
done. I am my Lord's and He is mine. Happy day, happy day, when Jesus
washed my sins away. There He is. And therefore I
can say, Father, and not get blown away. I can stand in His presence and
not get annihilated. Me, that's right, me. I can't. I can't. I can come just like
I am without one plea, but that His blood was shed for me. And
I can plead the sacrifice, the sin offering, the atonement of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my high priest. And that's
the way it has been, and that's the way it is, and that's the
way it always will be. And when I get to heaven, it
won't matter whether I was a preacher or a total failure in life, Christ
stood for me. It won't matter what I've accomplished,
because I haven't accomplished anything. God has. But I'm going to say unto Him
who loved me and washed me from my sins in His own blood, and
made me a king and a priest myself unto God. Unto Him be the glory,
both now and forever, because it always has been. That's the
gospel. That's the gospel. And I hope
you can lay hold on it. before eternity lays hold of
you. Because that's God's whole design
in redemption, is Jesus Christ His Son. Our Father in Heaven, these words I've just spoken,
have to be washed in the blood of Christ. Just to think, here
I am, One of Adam's fallen reprobates. Sons, by nature a sinner, guilty,
nothing I've ever said, done, or thought has been pure or holy
or acceptable in your presence. I lay claim to no righteousness
whatsoever. In the flesh there's no way I
can please you because nothing in my flesh is good. But I can come, Father, into
your presence. I can call you Father. I can
come into your presence. I can praise you and give thanks
in a very fleshly way because of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
my plea, my righteousness, my wisdom, my redemption, my holiness
because of His blood. His blood maketh atonement for
my soul. The Lord Jesus pleads for me. I look to Him, trust
in Him. You said in your word, you gave
this promise that Abraham believed you It was imputed to him for
righteousness, and it wasn't written for his sake alone, but
for us, to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on you, who raised
up Jesus Christ from the dead and who gave him to die for our
infirmities. And Lord God, my Father, I believe. I believe. I rest in Christ.
I look to Christ. I trust in Him. I claim. I lay
hold, I lay claim on Your Word through Your promise. on Jesus
Christ, my great high priest. I offer up sacrifices of praise
and thanksgiving to you for Christ's sake, in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, with all the honors that are His, and the names that
are His, our righteousness, our banner, our victory, our provision,
our physician. Christ is our all.