Hebrews 9, 11, and 12. I'm speaking
to you on the subject, Christ, our great High Priest. Christ,
our great High Priest. Verse 11, Hebrews 9, But Christ
being come, and High Priest of good things to come, by a greater
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once, every word
is so weighty, so rich, so meaningful, once into the holy place, having,
having obtained, completed, eternal redemption for us. Now I wish I could express to
you, I wish you just knew, my weakness and fear and trembling
and my feeling of insufficiency as I try to speak from these
verses of Scripture. I'm overwhelmed by the greatness
of my text. Great is the mystery of Godliness. God was manifest in human flesh. I'm overwhelmed by the greatness
of this text. I feel a terrible insufficiency
and inability to handle this portion of God's And then I'm
overwhelmed with the importance of it. The importance of it is
beyond description. It's importance to me. I've got to have a priest, a
high priest. I've got to have an offering,
a sin offering. I've got to have a sacrifice,
a suitable sacrifice. The wages of sin is death. I'm
under the curse of the broken law. Something's got to be done
about my sin, something that's adequate in God's sight. Not
what I think, what God's ordained. And I'll tell you the importance
of this scripture to me is beyond description. All of eternity
is summed up in these verses right here. My hope, my position, and then the comfort
of it. If I can get a hold of it, if
you can get a hold of these verses right here, if you can grasp
them, not just in your head, but in your heart, If you can
go out believing them, resting in them, the comfort is invaluable. The comfort is beyond description. The joy, the assurance, the happiness,
the confidence that'll be yours, you'll walk with God in an assurance
and a boldness that no one knows anything about except those who
are fellow partakers thereof. So the greatness of it The importance
of it, the comfort of it, is just breathtaking. And I feel it's summed up in
the last five verses of this ninth chapter. What we're going
to be talking about this morning is summed up in four appearances
of Christ. Back several years ago, I brought
a message on three appearances of Christ. The word appear is
mentioned three times, but when Brother Jay was reading, when
I was reading the scripture this morning, and when Jay was leading
the singing, I was sitting there looking at these last five verses,
and I've left out one of the appearances of Christ. I've been
talking about the three appearances of Christ. There are four appearances
of Christ, Jay. If you look at verse 20, first
of all verse 26, it says, For then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared. I've been bound by the word appeared.
It's appeared, Christ hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. The Apostle is saying this, that
Christ has actually, the Son of God himself has appeared on
this earth in human flesh. He's appeared here. Himself,
Christ himself, appeared on this earth. The Word was made flesh
and dwelt right here among us. And put away sin with the sacrifice
of himself. He appeared right here. And then
if you look at verse 24, it says, For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true. In other words, he says Christ is not appearing in Solomon's
temple or Moses' tabernacle, but in the heaven itself, now
to appear, Christ is appearing right now in the presence of
God for us. He's interceding for us right
now in God's presence. Christ has appeared on this earth
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Sin's hard to put
away. The Jewish sacrifices couldn't do it. The law can't do it. Baptism
can't do it. Repentance can't do it. Only
Christ's blood can put away sin. And right now, he appears. Christ
is appearing in the presence of God for us. He's interceding. He's our mediator. He's our advocate. Right now, in God's presence,
he appears right now. And then in the last verse, it
says, So Christ was once offered to bear the sin of many, unto
them that look for him shall he appear. He's coming back. And he's coming back without
sin. He's coming back as the conquering reigning king, the
second time without sin. To those that look for him, he's
going to appear. In that day we shall be resurrected,
in that day we shall take on his likeness, in that day we
shall be transported to his presence forever, in that day we shall
be done with even the presence of sin. He shall appear without
sin under the fullness of salvation, under the revelation of what
he purchased for us. It'll all be revealed in that
day. But there's another appearance
of Christ. Back here in verse 25, he said, not that he should
offer himself often as the high priest entering into the holy
place every year with the blood of others. The high priest during
his tenure of office, during the time that he occupied the
office, the high priest, the day he was made a high priest,
that year he went into the Holy of Holies. And he went into the
Holy of Holies, Charlie, every year, as long as he lived, until
he died. Just as long as he was a high priest, from the day he
became the high priest, there was only one at a time, until
the day he died, he went into the Holy of Holies every year.
Now what Paul is saying here, if Christ did that, if Christ
had to sacrifice himself every year, during his reign as priest,
as our priest. Look at verse 26. For then, if
that's so of Christ, then must he often have suffered since
when? When did he become our priest?
In the foundation of the world. That's when he became. So he
appeared. When he came to this earth to make his appearance
and to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, he was already our
surety. He was already our high priest.
He was already appearing in the presence of God for us. In fact,
when we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world, we were chosen because of His merit, not ours. There was a Savior before there
was a sinner. There was a high priest before
there was a sinner. There was a sin offering before
there was a sinner who needed the sin offering. from the foundation
of the world. So here are the appearances of
Christ. He appears back before the foundation of the world in
the presence of the Father for us. We're chosen in him, loved
in him, predestinated to be like him. And all of these types down
through from the time that man sinned until the time Christ
came, all of these pictures, that's what they are, just pictures.
They're not the likeness of the thing or the image of the thing,
they're just figures and patterns. Picture in Christ till he comes.
God says, I'm going to give you a picture of salvation. I'm going
to give you a pattern of salvation so that when he comes, you'll
recognize it. But they didn't. When he came,
the people said, well, we have Moses. Christ said, if you believe
Moses, you'll believe me. All that Moses wrote was of me.
They said, we have Abraham. Christ said, Abraham saw my day. Abraham's faith, Abraham's sacrifices,
Abraham's belief in God that was imputed to him for righteousness
is a picture of me. All of this that I've read to
you, now let's start out here in verse 1. The Passover lamb
is a picture of Christ's sacrifice. Ava and the high priest is a
picture of Christ's intercession. David the King is a picture of
Christ's reign. Everything in the Old Testament
is a picture of Christ. Our Lord, God's never saved men
but one way. God's never accepted men but
one way. God's never redeemed men but
one way. God's never regarded men as righteous but one way.
God's never put away sin but one way. Before Adam ever fell,
God decreed and purposed and designed redemption. It was in
Christ. In Christ, the Lamb slain. And
when God gave to Adam and Eve, to Cain and Abel, the first sacrifice,
He said, take a lamb. Back when God covered Adam and
Eve with coats of skin, He was picturing Christ. Here stood
Adam and Eve, naked. sinful, fallen, full of fear,
and shame, and hate, and all of these things, which they'd
never known before. And they realized that they were
evil and naked, and God said, so they, here's a picture of
man's effort. They got him some fig leaves
and tried to hide their nakedness, and God said, that's not sufficient. That won't hide your sin, that
won't hide your nakedness, that won't cover your evil. There's
got to be death for sin. There's got to be blood shed
for sin. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission for sin. There's no forgiveness. That's
God's character. That's God's nature. The soul
that sinneth must die, God said. So he slew an animal or two animals. And that animal, the innocent,
died for the guilty. Death for sin. Death had to occur
before sin could be covered. And when God took those animals
and killed them and stripped the skin off of them and reached
and covered Adam and Eve, He's picturing Christ's righteousness
covering me and you. I stand naked before God because
of my sins. I've broken His law. I've sinned
against the Holy God. I've violated everything God's
ever commanded. And I try to, you know, I come
down, shake the preacher's hand, join the church and rededicate
and reconsecrate. And somebody sprinkles some water
on my head when I'm a baby. All these things, our fig leaves,
that's our fig leaves, trying to atone, trying to cover, trying
to justify, trying to make ourselves acceptable, trying to win God's
approval, trying to win God's favor. I give my money and I
visit the sick and do these nice things, you know, and I say,
God, you watching? You taking note? Look at me,
got my fig leaf, got a big one today, a big fig leaf. And the Lord says, none of that
will do. None of that do, not by works of righteousness which
we've done, but according to his mercy hath he saved us without
the shedding of blood. And God says they won't do that.
And he kills the animal. He covers Adam and Eve. Covers
them with a skin. Not their skin, somebody else's. Not their death, somebody else's.
Not their bloodshed, somebody else's. And this is a picture.
God is saying, you see this picture? Now when Christ comes, you recognize
him. But they didn't. They didn't. And then here he, and he come
on down to Moses and Moses gave the people a tabernacle. Here's
a, he told them to build a tabernacle. See verse 1, then verily the
first covenant also had also ceremonies of divine service
and a worldly, earthly sanctuary. God said Moses built his tabernacle.
You know what that tabernacle is a picture of? The body of
Christ. The body of Christ. Beautiful on the inside. That
tabernacle, I wish I could describe it to you. How beautiful. Gold, silver, precious wood,
perfectly designed and cut and plain and everything. But on
the outside, it was ugly. It was ugly. On the inside it
had four coverings. It had a white linen covering
over the top. That's the inside. White linen,
gold and silver, but on that was ram skin, and then over the
top of all of it was badger skin. And it came all the way to the
ground. The tabernacle was only 15 feet wide and 15 feet high,
about 45 feet long. But on the outside it looked
so drab and plain, and that's the way Christ, when he came
in the body, he came in a human body, and there was no beauty
about him that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected
of men. He was so marred that he didn't
even look like a man. But on the inside, holiness,
righteousness, he knew no sin. Well, in this tabernacle there
were two sections. There was a veil in the middle,
and out here was a section about 30 feet long by 15 feet wide.
And in that holy place was the candlestick, the seven candles,
and the priest went about their service there. It says in verse
6, look at verse 6, when these things were ordained, the priest
always went into the first tabernacle accomplishing the service of
God. Those candlesticks were a picture of Christ, the light
of the world. The priest kept them burning all the time. They
never went out. They always burned. And then over here was the table
of showbread. And the loaves of bread there,
they were kept fresh daily. Always Christ the bread of life.
And then there was a place right in front of the veil that separated
the holy place, separated the holy of holies from the outward
holy place. And right in front of it was
an altar of incense. And those priests, they were
always serving in there morning, noon, and night. Somebody was
on duty. And that incense was kept burning
24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It must not go out. That's the
prayers of Christ, the sweet fragrance of Christ's prayers
ascending up into the nostrils of God for us. And the priest
went about. But that veil was there. And
inside this 15 by 15 by 15 cubit cube was the Holy of Holies. where God dwelt. And in one piece
of furniture, actually, two pieces in one, there was the Ark of
the Covenant, wasn't very large, but in that Ark was the broken
law. Oh, Moses came down from the mountain, the people had
already broken it, and he broke it too. And they put that broken
law in the Ark of the Covenant, and over the top of it was a
mercy seat. overlaid with gold and the cherubims
on each side of it. And that awesome, awful presence
of God, no one dared go in there. No one accidentally dared go
in there. No one, under any circumstances,
for any reason, ever came into the presence of God in that holy
place or they drug him out by his heel. just immediately consumed
by the presence of God. It'd be like looking on the face
of God. We're flesh sinners. God is saying
that there's no way, there's no way to God except one. And what God, what our Lord was
doing was picturing it. There's never been any way to
God but by Christ. I'm the way, the truth, and the
life. No man cometh to the Father but by me. No man knoweth the
Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid Christ
the Lord. Nothing in the name under heaven given among men
whereby we must be saved. Isaiah wrote of Christ. David
looked for the coming of Christ. Abraham saw his day. Moses wrote
of him. All the way through the word.
That rock was Christ. That serpent lifted up was Christ.
Jail in the belly of the fish is a picture of Christ. All this
is a picture, a symbol, a tie. Nobody was ever saved by these
things. Look over here at chapter 10,
verse 4. Chapter 10, verse 4. It is not possible for the blood
of bulls and goats to take away sin. Any preacher or theologian or
teacher or anybody else is showing utter gross ignorance to say
that God's ever regarded any man on the basis of anything
other than Christ's sacrifice. But he was giving us some pictures.
So there's the holy of holies. Here is the holy place, the outer
court. There's the outer court out there
where the people could come, but the priests could come only
here. The people didn't come in this holy place. And the Holy
of Holies, into the very presence of God, where the awesome, infinite,
eternal, immutable presence of God dwelt, no one but one designated
man. And God was the one that designated
him. the high priest. Let me show you that in Hebrews
5. Turn over there just a moment. Nobody took this office on himself. In chapter 5, verse 1, every
high priest, every high priest, and there were many of them,
they lived and died. Every high priest taken from among men is
ordained for men to represent men in things pertaining to God
that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sin. Verse
4. And no man taketh this honor
unto himself but he that is called of God as was Aaron. And that high priest, once a
year, once a year, They'd take this lamb and they'd put it up
for several days to make sure it was without spot and without
blemish. Our Lord lived on this earth 33 and a half years, showing
he knew no sin, he had no sin, there was no corruption in him.
And they put this lamb up and they watched it. And our Lord
was observed, observed by the Father. This is my son in whom
I'm well pleased. Our Lord was observed by Satan,
who tried him, and tested him, and tempted him. He was observed
by men. Every eye was on him. They tried
to track him. They tried to catch him in a
falsehood. They tried to ask him these tricky
questions. They did everything under the
God's sun to try to find fault with him. Couldn't do it. But
he was on this earth for a long time. That lamb was put in a
pen, and they watched him. They examined him carefully,
made sure he was without spot, without blemish, without disease. And then when the day came, that
priest brought that lamb out yonder in front of the altar,
out in the outer court. There was that big altar with
a fire built in it. And he took that lamb, and that's
the way Christ came before his murderers, before those that
hated him, false witnesses. He came as a lamb before her.
share as his dome, and the lamb to the slaughter, he opened not
his mouth. And they took that lamb, the high priest, and raised
its neck, and slit its throat, and they caught the blood in
a basin. And then they took the body of that lamb and put it
on that fire, and it burned, and roasted it with fire. Roasted
it. Our Lord's body was roasted under
the fire of God's wrath. He said, I thirst. Not only the
burning sun, and not only the fever from within, but the fire
of God's wrath. I thirst like the rich man cried
from hell. Father Abraham, send Lazarus.
I thirst. I'm tormented in this flame.
Christ, our lamb, was tormented in the flame of God's wrath for
us. He burned. His body was burning. And then the high priest would
go, before he went into the tabernacle, he'd wash his hands again at
the laver, he stopped outside, and he'd wash all over again,
get all the blood, all the dust, he'd wash himself off, he's going
in the presence of God, he must be perfect. Our Lord said to
Mary, touch me not, I've not yet ascended to my Father, don't
defile me, don't defile me. And then the high priest, on
that day of atonement would take that basin of blood and go in
some way crawl under that veil into the presence of God. And
there he would put the blood on the mercy seat, the blood
of that lamb covering the law, the broken law. Now, that was
animal blood. And that animal blood couldn't
atone for a man's sin, that animal blood couldn't put away the sin
of a man, that animal's death was not sufficient to satisfy
a law that says the soul that sinned, it must die, man must
die. But it was a picture, all of
this was a picture, all of it was a type, all of it was a symbol,
a shadow to show us the good things that were to come. And
that's what it says here in verse 11, but Christ, you see this?
But Christ, being come a high priest of good things to come,
not typically, but reality. These Old Testament priests were
many, he was one. They brought the blood of animals,
he brought his own blood. They made their offerings in
an earthly tabernacle, a worldly sanctuary, he in the presence
of God himself. They brought many sacrifices,
morning, noon, and night. He brought one. You see, but
Christ, every word is so heavy. But Christ, the Son of God, the
Lord of glory, not Ava and his son. Christ being come, a high
priest of good things to come, certainties, justification, sanctification,
redemption, reconciliation. of good things to come, by a
greater and more perfect tabernacle, by his own body, not made with
hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the
blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in
once, not many times, but once. And we don't need these types
anymore either. Now, I don't mean to be critical
or harsh. I'm simply saying that let's
stay with the Word of God, let's stay with the Scripture. You
see, back in Old Testament days, the priest was ordained and designated
by God, the high priest. And God gave him his ritual and
ceremonies. That's what it says. This tabernacle
had ceremonies. God ordained ceremonies. Everything
was in particular given by Moses. It was to be done a certain way
and God wouldn't accept it any other way because it was a picture.
It's like, you know, when Moses smote the rock. When Israel was
thirsty and Moses said, Lord, the people are thirsty. And the
Lord said, there's the rock, smite the rock. And Moses did. He smote the rock and it gave
water. That's good. Just leave it right there, Moses.
Now next time you want water, don't smite the rock, Moses,
that rock is Christ. Paul said that in Corinthians,
that rock is Christ. Don't do it again. Now when you
want water, speak to the rock. Well, the time came when they
wanted water again, and God said, Moses, speak to the rock. Don't
smite the rock, speak to it. Christ is smitten once. The ceremony
is over, the type is finished. The picture's complete. Now,
don't you mess it up, Moses. Well, he did. He went out there
and got angry with the people, and he said, you rebels, must
I get water from the rock? And he drew back and hid it.
Well, water came out. But God said, Moses, just kind
of bench over here. I want to talk to you. Now, Moses,
I told you not to smite that rock. I told you to speak to
it. But in your haste and temper, you smote it. Now, for that,
you're going to die. You're not going to enter the promised land.
You're not going to take the people in. You're going to die. Joshua
will take them in. Well, Joshua had to. He's Christ,
you see. Moses couldn't take them in.
He's the Lord. That's God's purpose. But that didn't lessen Moses'
responsibility. He smoked that rock. And the
reason I don't get up here on Sunday morning like the fellow...
And I'm not being... Believe me, I'm not trying not
to be a smart aleck. But the reason I don't get up
here in front of you this morning dressed in these robes and The
priesthood is finished. We don't want to poke with a
funny looking hat. I know that Abram wore the hat
and he wore holiness unto the Lord and he wore the robes and
all these things. That's finished. Christ has put
it to an end. Don't bring it back. Don't smite
the rock. Don't bring it back. Don't go
through that stuff. The reason we don't have a table
with a cloth up here and some wine and some wafers to break
all over again and to say so many words and go about sprinkling
the people with the water and the blood. They've been sprinkled,
Jay. They've already been sprinkled. It's over. Don't re-institute
these things. They're fulfilled in Christ.
And when a man re-institutes them, he's saying Christ is not
sufficient. That's exactly what they're saying. They're saying Christ is not
enough. These pictures are done with. You better leave them where
they are. They're over. They were served their day. They
were for a purpose. He finished them. I want to talk
about that tonight. He put them to me. He taketh
away the first that he may establish the second. Christ has entered
into the presence of God himself once. One time. And what did he do that one time?
It says in verse 12. He entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption. It's already finished. It's already finished. Now, if
you see the greatness of that here, God ordained salvation
in Christ. He chose us in Christ. He determined
to save a people. God was not willing that all
the sons of Adam perish. God's going to manifest His grace
and His love and His mercy upon some of the sons of Adam. He
has chosen them. He has ordained them to life.
He has given Christ to be their surety. Now, to the day that
Christ comes out yonder, God sent prophets and He spoke to
the people through these prophets. And these prophets, who did they
talk about? They talked about Christ. To Him gave all the prophets
witness. Everything in the Old Testament
is about Christ. And then he gave Moses the pictures.
He gave Moses the tabernacle, and the seven pieces of furniture,
and the sacrifices, the turtle doves, the goats, the heifers,
the lambs, and all these things, the blood shedding, the day of
the atonement, the feast of the tabernacle, the feast of the
first fruits, all of these things are pictures. That's what it
says. Here, look at verse 9. It was a figure for the time
then present. Look at verse 23. It was therefore
necessary that the pattern of things in heaven, you see that?
A picture, a figure, a pattern. And look, if you will, at verse
9. And these figures couldn't put
away sin. Verse 9, there was a figure for
the time then present in which were offered gifts and sacrifices
that could never make them that did the service perfect as pertaining
to the conscience. It couldn't put away the sin.
They were pictures. And when our Lord Jesus Christ
came, he was the fulfillment of all of it. Now watch this.
Let me give you three or four things and I'll close. Look back
at Hebrews 5. Hebrews 5. First of all, This high priest
in the Old Testament was made a priest by God. The man didn't
volunteer for this job, he wasn't elected to this job, he wasn't
appointed to this job by men, God made him priest. Verse 5
of Hebrews 5, So also Christ glorified not himself to be made
a high priest, but he that said unto him, Thou art my son, today
have I begotten thee. He's the one that did it. Christ
did not make himself our priest, but he that said unto him, Thou
art my son, today have I begotten thee, he is the one that made
him the priest. Christ Jesus is a sufficient
high priest because the heavenly Father hath ordained him to be
our priest. He hath ordained, he hath appointed
Christ. There's one mediator between
God and me, and that's the man Christ Jesus. Christ, let me
show you something here. In all of the Old Testament they
are depicted, Christ is the priest. He is the priest. He is the tabernacle
in which the sacrifice is offered. You know, the tabernacle is where
God met men and men met God. You know where you meet God?
In Christ. You know where God meets you?
In Christ. Christ Jesus is also the sacrifice. He is the priest
that offers it. He's the tabernacle in which
it's offered, and he is the sacrifice himself. It's his blood that
was shed. And let me tell you this, it
is to himself that the sacrifice is offered, because he's God. You see, when Abraham was going
up that mountain with Isaac, and Isaac said, Father, here's
the wood, here's the fire, where's the lamb? Abraham said, my son,
God will provide himself a lamb. God will provide himself a lamb. And he did. He is the lamb. And
he will provide a lamb for himself because it's his law that was
broken. It's his justice that was violated. And it's his enmity
that must be reconciled. So the offering is unto the Lord.
God made him our priest. Quickly, Hebrews 5, 6. Let me
show you this. Now this is for you who really
want to get into the study of God's word and want to see what's
going on in the pictures of this Old Testament, you listen carefully
to this. Hebrews 5, verse 6. And he said
also in another place, Thou art a priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek. Don't quit, look at verse 10,
called of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews
6.20, don't quit, whether the forerunner is for us entered
even Christ made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Don't quit, Hebrews 7.1. All
right, who is Melchizedek? Christ is a priest, not like
Ava. One day little old Ava's mama says, To Aaron's daddy,
we got us a boy. Regarding Jesus Christ when he
was born, that couldn't be said. Because he already existed before
he came. Aaron was born and his priesthood
started. Our Lord Jesus was not born.
In the beginning he was with God, he was God, and all things
were made by him. And his priesthood is the same
thing. It's having no beginning or ending. He's a priest forever.
All right, listen, Hebrews 7. Hebrews chapter 7, verse 1 through
3. For this Melchizedek, king of
Salem, king of peace, prince of the most, priest of the most
high God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings
and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of
all, first being by interpretation. This is who he is, king of righteousness. And after that also king of Salem,
which is king of peace, 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, abideth a priest
continually. Nobody has ever found out whom
El Kisadek was, not in reality. See, Abraham was coming back
from the slaughter of the kings when he rescued Lot and these
other folks, and he was met by the priest of God, Melchizedek.
We don't hear of him before, we don't hear of him after, he
just appeared. It may have been the Lord Jesus
himself, I don't know. But when he was described, it
says, Melchizedek had no mother or father, no beginning of days,
no end of days, he has a forever eternal priesthood. And Jesus
Christ, our great high priest, was made of God a priest and
a priest eternally. He's always been my high priest.
And the sacrifice he offers is his blood on the mercy seat of
glory to cover the broken law. He obtains eternal redemption.
He perfects forever them that believe on him that are sanctified.
He redeems them forever. He's always been our priest.
All right, now notice the next thing, Hebrews 2, verse 16. He's a priest that's made in
our likeness. He's a priest that's made in
our likeness. Our Lord can enter into your trials and your temptations
and your needs because he was a man. That's what it says here,
verse 16 of Hebrews 2, "...verily he took not on him the nature
of angels, He was not made in the nature of angels, but he
took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore, in all things it behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a
merciful, faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,
to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that
he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor,
comfort, console them that are tempted. You know, when Aaron
and the high priest of old would go into the presence of God,
they identified with those people out there. They identified with
them. They felt their misery. They
felt their sins. They felt their need. They felt
their rebellion. They identified because they
were men themselves. And our Lord Jesus Christ can
identify with his people because he thirsted, he was weary, he
was tried, he was tested, he was tempted in all points. Will
he identify with you? You're not coming before a high
priest that cannot identify with you. He was on this earth. He
was a man in human flesh, yet without sin. And then quickly,
Hebrews 7. Hebrews chapter 7, he's able,
he's able to save. He's able to save. In Hebrews
7, 24, it says, but this man, this man, because he continueth
ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost, he's able to save them evermore. that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. His unchangeable priesthood,
his effectual priesthood, his priesthood of intercession, Christ
always prays for me. If I don't pray, he's praying.
If I don't remain faithful, he's faithful. Christ is my intercessor,
he's my advocate, my priest. He's able to save, he's able
to keep, he's able to raise. All right, the last thing, Hebrews
8.1, where is he? Where is this priest? Where is
this priest? You know, the priest of the Old
Testament had bells on the bottom of his robe. And the people,
this was an awesome day. This was the day of days, this
was the day of atonement. And the people's very existence
depended on God accepting the atoning sacrifice, the blood
offering on the mercy signal. This was the high day, the big
day, the day of atonement. And all the people gathered,
there were a lot of them, they were gathered around that court.
Here's the tabernacle in the outer court. And all the priests,
everybody had on fine white linen, the people had cleaned up themselves
and sanctified themselves, day of atonement. And the high priest
took the lamb that had been put up for several days without spot
or blemish and he slew the lamb and took the blood and roasted
the body and now, now it's time to go into the presence of the
Lord. And everything, I bet you could have heard a pin drop.
And I know that the priests, the common priests, the ordinary
priests, were standing around, their hearts in their throats,
their mouths dry and trembling. And here the high priest goes,
and whether or not God will accept the sacrifice, whether or not
God will forgive them, whether or not God will justify them,
whether or not God's mercies and blessings will be upon them,
blessed is the man to whom God will not charge sin, it all rests
right there. That broken law is in there,
typical of all their sins, and there's the veil separating them
from God. God's in there. They're typical
of His presence. I know the heaven of heavens
won't contain Him, but His mercy dwells there. His acceptance
dwells there. His justification dwells there.
His sanctification dwells there. His love dwells there. And this
high priest has the blood. And he had bells, didn't he,
Jay, on the bottom of his garment, and they'd listen for those bells.
You notice one thing in this temple, all this furniture I've
named, there's no chair, because these priests never sat down.
They never finished their work. They offered one sacrifice, they
had another one to offer, and after that another one, after
that another one, after that another one, after that another
one, next year another one, next year another one. Never put away
a sin. So he'd go into the Holy of Holies
and they'd be listening. They'd hear those bells. They'd
hear those bells. He's still alive. He's still
alive. They'd hear those bells. He's
still alive. And those bells weren't heard. Uh-oh, what's
wrong? God's disapproval is upon him. God didn't receive the sacrifice.
God's angry with us. Go drag him out. No, they hear
the bells. And after a while he comes out.
Where is our high priest? Are we listening for bells in
an earthly tabernacle? No, it's the Hebrews 8.1. Now
the things which we have spoken. This is the song. We have such
a high priest who is set. He sat down. Hey, he sat down. What does that mean? It means
he finished his work. He don't have any more offerings
to sacrifice. He don't have any more lambs
to slay. He don't have any more atonements to make. He doesn't
have any more offerings. He sat down. Where is he? Whoa,
listen. He's on the right hand, the right hand of the throne
of the majesty of heaven. My high priest is not in a holy
place, and I'm not listening for bells to see if he's still
alive. He ever liveth. And he's seated, accepted. That
means my sacrifice is accepted, that means my sins are pardoned,
that means my guilt is erased, that means I'm seated because
I'm identified with Him from the foundation of the world.
And God has accepted everyone that believes on Him. I tell
you this, if I can find out what He did and for whom He did it,
Somebody for whom he offered that sacrifice can find a whole
lot of comfort right here, a whole lot of assurance. My high priest
is sat down on the right hand of God. As you see why I started
out with the greatness of it? and the importance of it, and
you think what it'll mean if you can realize the comfort of
it. He's there. I'm here. By God's purpose and
providence, I'll be here a while probably, but he's there. And where he is, I am. Our Father,
take the word. Lord, we've tried to preach the
gospel. Christ our substitute, Christ
our sacrifice, Christ our sin offering, Christ our great high
priest, Christ our intercessor, where he is, who he is, the glory
of his person, the sufficiency of his sacrifice, the sufficiency
of his priesthood. Now, Lord, if men do not see
the picture, and they do not see the person, they'll perish. May it please
thee by the power of thy spirit to enable men to see and to hear,
and to lay hold upon this beautiful truth, this foundation of hope,
this life everlasting in Christ. He's my hope. He's my refuge. He's our great high place. For
it's in His name we pray. Amen.