What would it mean to you if
you could know, if you could be confident and have assurance
that right here on this earth that you are completely and finally
saved? What would that mean to you?
What would it mean to you if you could know that every sin
that you've ever committed is pardoned. I mean every sin in
the past, every sin in the present, and every sin in the future,
completely blotted out, remembered no more, cast into the depths
of the deepest sea. What would that mean to you?
What would it mean to you to know that God is reconciled unto
you, that the enmity is put away, that God is at peace, that there's
no warfare between you and God anymore. Instead of being an
object of God's wrath, you're now an object of God's love and
mercy and free favor. Just what would that mean? I
mean right now. I'm not talking about something
in the future. I'm talking about right now. You could be assured
and confident that God loves you. And then what would it mean
to you to know that you've been blessed with another nature?
Now, every one of us are aware of the old nature. Paul talked
about that in Romans 7, about the things he would do that he
didn't want to do, and the things he didn't want to do that he
did, and called himself a wretched man, and talked about the law
of sin and the body of death, and we're aware of that. But
what if you could have a new nature, a nature inclined to
holiness, a nature inclined to righteousness, a nature bound
to Jesus Christ forever in thought, in heart, in ambition, in motive,
attitude, a new nature. What would it mean to you if
you could know in your heart that physical death would be
gained? That's right. The best thing
that could happen to you would be to die. That every trial,
however severe, was for your good. that every trouble, every
series of troubles, all of them were for your good and for God's
glory. What would that mean to you? To know that all sin is
pardoned, that God is reconciled to you, that like Abraham, you're
God's friend, and that you have a new nature, a brand new nature,
a divine nature, a holy nature, and that your name is written
in the book of life and for God to take you home right now would
be gain. It would be, as Dwight L. Moody
said, your coronation day. Well, I've come this morning
boldly declaring to you from the Word of God that this priceless
blessing, this fourfold priceless blessing is not only obtainable,
but it has been obtained. It's been obtained through Jesus
Christ. It's been purchased by our Lord
Jesus Christ. It's been vested in Him. The
Scripture says so. And all who savingly believe
on Him, have these mercies. That's right. In Christ, not
only are these blessings obtainable, but all who are in Christ right
now possess these blessings. Now, start with the first one.
I said, what would it mean to you if you could know that all
your sins, past, present, and future, were blotted out, were
cleansed, were forgiven, were pardoned, and no more did they
exist? Well, doesn't the Scripture say,
The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Doesn't the scripture say, and
their sins and iniquities will I remember no more? You say,
but that's our past sins. Now, wait a minute. All my sins
were future when Christ died. I didn't have any past sins when
Christ died. When Christ died on the cross,
all my sins were future. And when he talked about in Romans
3.25, for the sins that are past, he's talking about Old Testament
saints. Their sins were passed when Christ died. He died here,
and those before the cross, their sins were before the cross. Our
sins were after the cross. Christ died on Calvary's cross,
and I wasn't even born. My sins were all future, and
they were all cleansed by the blood. And then doesn't the Scripture
say this? God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, but
rather charging them to his Son. God is reconciling. When God
sent our Lord Jesus Christ into the world, he said, peace on
earth, peace on earth. The enmity, as far as God is
concerned, toward every one of his elect, the enmity is gone. It's put away. Christ has reconciled
us unto God. There is no enmity. There's no
quarrel. The quarrel is over as far as
God is concerned. We've been reconciled to God.
Now then, Paul preaching to those people, he said, be ye reconciled. In other words, the enmity from
heaven to earth has been removed by Christ. But the enmity in
our hearts has got to be removed by the regenerating work of the
Holy Spirit, has got to be removed by the calling of the Holy Spirit,
has got to be removed by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit
when God makes us reconcile toward Him. God is reconciling. Christ
did that. I don't have anything to do with
that. Christ reconciled the Father. God was in Christ reconciling
the world to Himself. But now the Holy Spirit comes
in time and I'm reconciled to God. As Paul said, be ye reconciled
to God. I've got to lay down my shotgun.
I've got to lay down my sword. I've got to surrender. I've got
to lay down my arms of rebellion against the Holy God. A lot of
people haven't done that. They're still taking up arms
against the living God. They can't win, but they still
take up arms against God. Thank God we've been reconciled.
God is our friend and not our enemy. And then the third thing
I mentioned was to have a new nature. Well, the Scripture says
if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature, a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things become new. You mean my old nature is eradicated? Well, hardly. You haven't experienced
that, have you? Well, I haven't either, but I
have a new nature. I've experienced the nature of
the Spirit, the nature of godliness, the nature of righteousness,
the nature of holiness. Sure, there's a conflict between
that old nature and the new nature. Sure, the flesh lusteth against
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, so that you cannot
do the things that you would, Paul said in Galatians. But nevertheless,
we have a new nature, a nature that loves God, and loves righteousness,
and loves holiness, and a nature that hates sin, even in ourselves.
Not just in others, but in ourselves. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. This new creation is in Christ,
just like the cleansing blood's in Christ. just like the reconciliations
in Christ? Well, this new creature's in
Christ. And if any man's in Christ by faith, in a saving interest,
he is a new creature. He's just not a church member,
he's a new creature. He's not just a convert, he's
a new creature. He's not just a professing Christian
or a theologian, he's a new creature. And if he's not a new creature,
he's not in Christ. If any man have not the Spirit
of God, he's none of his. And then what's the fourth thing
I mentioned? To live in this life expecting death, and not
to dread it nor to fear it, but really, in one sense of the word,
to covet it. That's what Paul said. He said,
I have a desire to depart and be with Christ. He said, for
me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Gain? That's right. It's all gain. We lose a sinful
body and gain a glorified body. We lose a corrupt, sinful mind
and gain a holy, pure mind. We lose a dying body and gain
a living, eternal nature, glorified like unto our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is not a dream. This is reality. This is not
a theory. This is a fact according to the
Word of God. This is not just a goal for the future. This is
a present possession for the disciples said, We have passed
from death unto life. Beloved, now are we sons of God. Not going to be, hope to be,
might be. We are now the sons of God. Now, men have sought this priceless
blessing in many ways. They've sought it in many ways
and they seek it in many ways and in many places. But I've
come to tell you this, that this position and this priceless blessing
is to be found nowhere but in Christ. It's not to be found
in the law. It's not to be found in religion. It's not to be found in morality. It's not to be found in religious
ceremonies. This priceless blessing of forgiveness,
pardon, this priceless blessing of reconciliation and a new creation,
this priceless blessing of hope for eternal life is not to be
found anywhere but in Christ. Listen to these verses. There's
none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid, Christ the Lord. He said, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh under the Father
but by me. He said, without the shedding
of blood, there is no, I repeat, no remission of sins. He says,
he that hath the Son of God hath life, and he that hath not the
Son of God hath not life. Now, my friend, if acceptance
with God, Forgiveness of sin could be found anywhere other
than in Christ if it could I say it can't be but if it could if
acceptance forgiveness pardon Reconciliation could be found
anywhere else other than in Christ. Where do you suppose it would
be found? Well, I would say if not in Christ, it would be found
in the ceremonial law of Moses That's right. The Old Testament
ceremonial Levitical law given to Moses For God designed this
ceremonial log, and God designated it, and God gave it to Moses. That's right, he did. God designed
the tabernacle, the whole thing. He designed the furniture, he
designed the priesthood, he designed the sin offering, he designed
the ceremonies, he designed all the baptisms and rituals and
everything, and he told Moses, see that you do it exactly like
I told you. Don't change one thing not one
ceremony sacrifice and everybody who tried to institute any kind
of change in that Levitical law in that ceremony law was slain
before the Lord Like the fellow, you know that that reached out
and touched the ark of the covenant They were transporting it from
one place to another and God had said in his word that when
they carried that ark That it was to be carried on the soldiers
of only on the shoulders of certain priests and no one was to touch
it. Well, they were carrying that
ark, and the thing began to shift on their shoulders, looked like
it was going to fall, and a fellow reached out and touched it to
hold it to keep it from falling, and he died just like that. Another
fellow went into the Holy of Holies, and he was stricken with
leprosy, and they drug him out. All of these ceremonial laws,
these Levitical laws, these sacrifices were designed by God and designated
by God and given by God To to for the people of Israel to come
before him now if anything could save other than Christ That's
what it would be. But Paul is careful to point out in Hebrews
9 and 10 and every one of you ought to get acquainted with
these two chapters in God's Word Hebrews 9 and 10 But there are
a whole lot of people who believe that people in the Old Testament
were actually saved by these laws There are a lot of people
who believe the Old Testament is of no more effect and of no
more help to us. They're dead wrong. They believe
the Old Testament was given, those ceremonial laws and Levitical
laws, as a way of salvation. And when Christ came, these were
no longer a way of salvation. Now Christ is the way of salvation.
They never were a way of salvation. These sacrifices and these ceremonies
and these atonements were pictures of Christ. Symbols and shadows
that were to suffice the people till he came. They were saved
not by looking to these things, but by looking to Christ through
these things. Let me show you that in Hebrews
10. Now take your Bible, and I want you to read Hebrews 9
and Hebrews 10 after I bring this message to you this morning.
It'll help you immensely. First of all, in Hebrews 10,
verse 1, it says the ceremonial law was a shadow. What is a shadow? Well, back in chapter 9, he said
it's a pattern of things to come. the shadow of things to come.
He says it's a picture, a figure of things to come. In other words,
that tabernacle sitting out there in the wilderness, it wasn't
a large building. It wasn't even an impressive
building on the outside. On the outside, it looked just
like a common tent. It was only 45 feet long and
15 feet wide and 15 feet high. And it was divided into two compartments.
There was the holy place and then the veil separating the
holy place and back here the holy of holies. And that tabernacle
was covered with sheepskin and ram skin and badger skin and
white linen. And the linen was the first covering,
and the badger skin was the last covering. And if you'd stand
back and look at that tabernacle from a distance, you'd say, there's
just an old tent, just an old weather-worn tent. But when you
went inside, the beautiful gold and silver And the beautiful
wood, it was unbelievably elaborate, unbelievably beautiful on the
inside. That's a picture of Christ, the
body of Christ our Lord. The scripture says, who hath
believed our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? He shall grow up as a tender plant, as a root out
of a dry ground, no form nor comeliness that we should desire
him, no beauty that we should desire him. He's despised and
rejected of men. They looked at Jesus Christ and
said, we know who you are, you're a carpenter. You're the son of
Mary and Joseph. We know you're brothers and sisters.
You're nobody. On the outside, Christ was just
a man. He looked just like any other
man. A little worse than most men because of the persecution,
sorrow, and torment. But on the inside, he knew no
sin. The perfect, holy, immaculate,
immutable, infinite Son of God. All the gold of purity and the
silver of excellence flowed through his veins and through his mind
and through his heart. There was no sin about him. That
tabernacle's Christ. Those people, when they came
in that tabernacle in Old Testament days, they came there to meet
God. God met man at the tabernacle and man met God at the tabernacle
through the priest, the intercessor, the mediator. But that tabernacle's
Christ. It's a picture of Christ. It's
not the very image of Christ. It's a shadow of Christ. It's
a figure. It's a pattern. It's a picture. That's what he's
saying here in verse 1. And you go on through that tabernacle,
the furniture in the tabernacle is a picture of Christ's work.
You know anything about the furniture in the tabernacle? Each piece
of furniture was a special, special picture of Christ. Inside that
holy place, there was a candlestick with seven candles, the perfect
number, the number of God. That candlestick is Christ. There
was no light anywhere in that tabernacle. It was total, absolute
darkness except for that candlestick, the seven golden candlestick.
And they were always burning, always kept burning. Christ,
the light of the world. Right across the tabernacle inside
the holy place was the table of showbread. And that bread
was kept fresh there every day. Christ, the bread of life. Just
before you go through the veil into the holy of holies, There
was an altar of incense. And the priest, 24 hours a day,
7 days a week, 365 days a year, kept that incense burning on
that altar of incense. That sweet fragrance. What is
that? That's Christ's prayer. Ascending
to the Father. My Father always hears me. I
pray for them, my Father. I pray for them which Thou hast
given me. Christ said, Peter, I prayed for you. I prayed for
you. Christ is our intercessor. He
ever lives to make intercession and to pray for us. And then
you go into the Holy of Holies, into that holy place, and there
is an art of the covenant. And in that art is the broken
law. And on the top of that art is the golden mercy seat, overshadowed
by the cherubim. What is that mercy seat? That's
Christ covering the broken law. And once a year, the high priest
would go into that holy place, and not without blood, He never
dared to go into the presence of God without blood. Don't you
try it either. I warn you, without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission for sin. God's presence, typically,
as an emblem, as a picture, was in that holier place. You can't
confine God to a place 15 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 15 feet
high. This was symbolic. God didn't
dwell in there. God dwells everywhere. He said
to David, David's going to build him a house. And God said, you
build me a house? The heavens won't contain me. How can this
house contain me? But this tabernacle is not the
presence of God. It's a symbol of the presence
of God. I tell you, people get in trouble
when they make memes out of symbols. when they make an end out of
the means. It's the same thing as coming to the Lord's table
right now and expecting to find Christ's body in that bread and
Christ's blood in that wine. It's not there. These are symbols.
These are emblems. These are pictures. This thing
of resting in Christ and believing in Christ is faith. It's spiritual
faith. Eating the flesh and drinking
the blood of the Son of God is not cannibalism. It's a spiritual
eating of his body and drinking of his blood. And this mercy
seat overshadowed or covered that broken law. And when the
high priest would go in there once a year, he'd put that blood
on that mercy seat. And that blood would cover the
broken law. That's a picture of Christ's
death for us. The lamb that was slain is Christ our lamb. The
atonement is Christ our atonement. The high priest is Christ our
priest. Now then listen to verse 2, 3, and 4. These sacrifices,
he said, now these ceremonies and sacrifices in this tabernacle,
this is not the image of good things to come. It's a picture
of good things to come. It's a symbol of good things
to come. It's just like when Abel brought the lamb and shed
its blood and offered it on the sacrifice back in Genesis. Well,
that blood didn't put away his sin. The blood of an animal cannot
put away the sin of a man. That's what it says in verse
2, 3, and 4. Look at it. These sacrifices can never justify. They can never sanctify. If they
could, they would have ceased to be offered. In other words,
when Abel brought, when the priest brought the sacrifice of the
lamb and the sins were pardoned, he wouldn't bring another one
the next morning. He wouldn't bring another one the next night.
He would bring another one the next year. Sins forgiven, sins
forgotten, sins pardoned, sins remitted, don't need any more
sacrifices. But he says in verse 4, it's
impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
It's an impossibility. Animals cannot die for men. These
sacrifices were not effectual. But look at verse 5, but when
Christ, when Christ came into the world, A body, he said, hast
thou prepared me, not a tabernacle to minister in, but a body to
minister in. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't
enter the holy place made with hands. He entered heaven itself.
God didn't prepare a tabernacle or a temple for him to minister
to in here on this earth and to perform his sacrifice. He
prepared him a body. Body hast thou prepared me and
he says he taketh away the first that he may establish the second
God took away the first tabernacle with its sacrifices with its
sin offering with its covenant and established the second the
body of Christ Jesus He took away the priesthood which is
no more and established the priesthood of Christ He took away the animal
sacrifices which are no more and established the atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ by the will of God Christ said I have
a body, and in the body of Christ, that's where God meets men, and
that's where men meet God, in the body of Christ. And through
the offering, look at verse 10, through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ, we are sanctified once for all. No more offering,
no more sacrifice, no more sin offering. You see that? Once
for all, we're sanctified, set apart, made holy, declared holy. made righteous, declared righteous
in Christ Jesus. If you read verse 11 through
14, now this will help you so much in understanding what we
have in Christ. And why we do not have religious
rituals and ceremonies and ordinances and all these things today is
because they've all been fulfilled. You don't need them anymore.
They've all been fulfilled. Now let's take verse 11 through
14 One word at a time, just briefly. It says here in verse 11, and
every priest, there were many of them, thousands of them. Why? Because they were born, they
became priests, and they died. Somebody'd take their job. That
person was born, became a priest, and died. And there were many
of them, every priest. There were many priests. Christ
is only one. He has an eternal priesthood.
He's a priest Four or five times in the Bible, it calls him a
priest after the order of Melchizedek. Not after Abram, not after the
sons of Levi, a priest forever, having neither beginning of days
nor end of days, having neither mother nor father, but an eternal
priesthood, the high priest of God. And every priest, standing,
standing. Why? Because they never finished
their work. They always standing. There were
no chairs in the tabernacle. Among all the furniture in the
tabernacle not one chair because those priests never finished
their work There was always the morning sacrifice the noon sacrifice
the evening sacrifice the next day sacrifice the incense that
the candlestick the showbread They never finished everything
had to be renewed every day because these sacrifices were pictures
They wouldn't they didn't have any sufficiency or power in themselves
to do anything for anybody You see that they stand it daily
multitude of sacrifices. They never finished offering
the same sacrifices. They never buried the same sacrifices,
certain ones for certain purposes, which could never take away semen. But here's the good news. This
man, this man, Jesus Christ, Christ was a man. I don't deny
that. He's God. He's the God-man. He's
eternal God, one with the Father. He's the very image of His person.
He's the brightness of His glory. He's God in human flesh, but
He was a man. Jesus Christ became a man. He's
the God-man. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. He took upon Himself the likeness
of sinful flesh. He was a man. It behooved Him
to redeem His brethren, to become like them, to be identified with
them, to be numbered with the transgressors. We have a high
priest which can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
For he was tempted in all points, as we are, yet without sin. This
man, after he had offered one sacrifice, one sacrifice, what
was that sacrifice? His body, his blood. He sat his
disciples down around the table at the Last Supper and he said,
this is my body broken for you, this is my blood shed for you.
This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever,
and that forever goes both ways, He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, and He's the Lamb enthroned. One
sacrifice forever, forever in purpose, forever in promise,
sat down. Oh, these Old Testament priests
never sat down because they never finished their work. Their sacrifices
were not effectual. Their sacrifices were not sufficient.
Their sacrifices were but pictures that had to always be continued.
But when Christ made His offering, when Christ gave His life, when
Christ shed His blood, When Christ went into the holy place, not
made with hands, which is a figure of the truth, but into heaven
itself, in the presence of God, and put His blood on the mercy
seat of glory, He sat down. He was finished. He sat on the
cross. It's finished. He screamed so that it could
be heard from the bottom of hell to the top of heaven. It's finished.
It's finished. Redemption is finished. Sins
are put away. The tabernacle sacrifices are
finished. The earthly priesthood is finished.
All of the ceremonies are finished. All of the types are finished.
And he sat down. Where did he sit down? It says
he sat down on the right hand of God. You know what that right
hand is? It's a place of acceptance. It's
a place of love. It's a place of power. It's a
place of glory. And brother, when he sat down
there, everyone whom he represented sat down with him, expecting
till his enemies become his footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected
forever." Nothing needs to be added, and nothing can surely
be taken away. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified by God the Father. And verse 18 says, where
remission of the sins is, there's no more offering, no more.