Now tonight I'm going to bring
a message on the subject precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of His saints. I'd like for you to hear this
message. I'd like for all those who are going to die sometime
soon to hear this message. So since you do not know when
you're going to leave this earth, suppose you come and hear it
tonight at seven o'clock. Hebrews chapter 10 now. Will
you open your Bibles, Hebrews chapter 10? And we'll begin our reading with
verse 11. Hebrews 10, 11. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can
never take away sin. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till
his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified." Now, I'm going to repeat this
morning a truth which I have sounded from this pulpit hundreds
of times. I have preached this message, the truth of this message, many,
many, many times from this pulpit. But I offer no apology for my
repetitions. I believe this message cannot
be repeated too often. I believe it cannot be preached
too often. Now, I have never in all my ministry
been satisfied with the way that I preach. I covet more ability
I covet more power. I wish the Spirit of God would
give me more liberty to preach His gospel. I wish He would give
me more ability to preach that gospel. I wish He would give
me a greater command of the vehicles of thought that I might more
effectively preach the gospel of our Lord. But most every week
I am encouraged with what I preach. As I said, I'm not satisfied
with the way that I preach, but I am satisfied with what I'm
preaching. And I know Jim Spence will not
mind me making a comment here. If God can use the heartaches of our lives to
bless others, then we should be glad for Him to do so. Jim's father was in the service
here about three or four weeks ago. He was healthy and well
and strong. A retired man, sixty-nine years
of age. A man whom I have known for almost
twenty years. A man whom I have loved and respected. A man who knew Christ, who loved
Christ, who loved the gospel. A man who could sit for Just
as long as you wanted to preach, he would sit and listen to you
preach the gospel and rejoice in the message of God's salvation. On Friday night, God was pleased
suddenly, without warning, to take him home. Friday night he
had visitors in his home, sat and talked and enjoyed their
fellowship. Around eleven o'clock they went
home. He went into the bathroom to prepare to go to bed. and
God called him home suddenly, quickly, without warning. That's
a good way to go. One moment on this earth, the
next moment in God's presence. One moment enjoying the fellowship
of those whom we love, the next moment enjoying forever the fellowship
of our dear Lord. One moment with all the discomfort
and temptations of life, the next moment free from them all.
It's a great way to go. It's a blessing of God. how great
it would be to be singing the praises of our God and to awake
in His presence. But I say all that to make this
comment. Three weeks ago, he was here
in this service to see his granddaughter baptized. He attends faithfully
another church where the gospel of Christ is preached over in
Ohio. But he was here. And I preached
that night. I didn't have the faintest idea
that I'd never see Alvey again. He was sitting there in the congregation.
I saw it there. I preached the gospel. I had
no idea in this world that he would never hear me preach again,
that he would never hear my voice one more time on this earth,
either in greeting or in message. And while I was over at the house
yesterday, I gave thanks from my heart. that when he was here,
I was true to him. I preached Christ to him. I preached
the gospel. I had some liberty to preach
the gospel of Jesus Christ. And as he left the church, he
expressed in no uncertain terms how much he appreciated that
message. He also sent word to me by his
son how much he appreciated that message. He loved that gospel
and rejoiced that I preached it. Now, we must remind ourselves
of that over and over again. I must remind myself that I'm
not here to impress you. I'm here, if possible, to bring
you to a knowledge of Christ. I'm not here to impress you with
the things I know, the things I've read, And with my grasp
of the present situation, I am here to bring you, God willing,
by the power of His Holy Spirit, to a saving knowledge of Jesus
Christ." Now, if Brother Spence could
have left his son a million dollars, if he could have been a general
in the Army or President of the United States, I say that he
could not have left him a greater gift than the one he left him.
He left him the joy and hope of knowing that he has danced
with the Lord. Isn't that the greatest thing
on earth? And I believe that if I should
preach to you the atonement of Jesus Christ twice every Sunday,
my ministry would be honored of God. I believe it would be
worthwhile. Because there may be those in
the service this morning who will not be here next week, who
will not be here next month, who will not be here next year.
There may be those listening to my voice today who will stand
in the presence of the living God before you hear me speak
again. Now, if you had that burden on
your heart, what would you preach? If you had that burden on your
heart, what would be your message? Well, my message today is by
one offering. By one offering, he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. And I want to give it to you
in three ways. First of all, in contrast. Secondly,
in character. And thirdly, in consequence.
Now listen to it. First of all, by way of contrast. If we contrast our Lord's offering
and priesthood with that ancient priesthood, And with the sacrifices
and offerings which were made by Aaron and the sons of Levi,
and these were of divine origin, they had divine approval, and
these sacrifices brought blessings to Israel. We go back to the
first offering by Abel, the first one recorded, the first one we
know about, the offering which Abel brought. the blood sacrifice,
and we come all the way down through all of this priesthood,
and tabernacle, and morning and evening offerings, and days of
atonement, and all the blood that was shed down through the
years. There were many priests. Now, look at our text, verse
eleven. It says, and every priest. That
means more than one. Every priest. That means many
priests. More than one. Every priest. They had many at
the same time. The sacrifices were too numerous
for one man. One man couldn't handle all of
the many sacrifices that were required, all of the types and
symbols, all of the ordinances and ceremonies. There were many
of them. One man would be a priest, he
would die, his son would succeed him. In fact, all of the descendants
of Avon, and even had to have help from the Levitical tribe,
As a priest died, he was succeeded by his son. Sometimes they were
forced to give over to younger men even before they died. They
grew old and they could not accomplish the sacrifices about the temple
and tabernacle. There were many priests, many,
many, many, many, many priests. But Christ is one. His is an
everlasting priesthood. His is without predecessor, without
successor. without mother, father, without
beginning, without end. Christ has an everlasting priesthood. He is one priest, one great high
priest. When Abraham, after his return
from the battle with the kings, met Melchizedek, the priest of
God, he gave him the tithes of everything that he possessed.
Melchizedek offered prayers for Abraham and blessed him. Nobody
knew where Melchizedek came from. Nobody knew where he went after
he left Abraham. And it is said in the Scripture
that our Lord's priesthood is not like that of Abram, for he
has no predecessor, he has no successor, he has no beginning
or end. His priesthood is like that of
Melchizedek. He is a priest forever. Now,
there were many priests, but secondly, there were many sacrifices. It says in verse eleven, and
every priest standeth daily, ministering and offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, the same sacrifices over and over and
over again. The host of priests, the many
priests, the thousands of priests going about through the hundreds
of years, the services of the tabernacle and temple, offering
many sacrifices, the morning sacrifices offered. Tomorrow
morning it must be offered again. Why? The evening sacrifice is
offered. Tomorrow evening it must be offered
again. The Day of Atonement. There was
a Day of Atonement last year. There's a Day of Atonement this
year. There'll be a Day of Atonement next year. Why? The high priest
slays the lamb, catches the blood in the basin, crawls under the
veil into the holiest of all, offers the blood on the mercy
seat, prays for the forgiveness of Israel's sins, comes out from
under the veil, the people see him, and a cheer goes up rejoicing,
God has heard their prayers. But next year the same thing
must be repeated again. Why? Read on. Every priest Thousands of them
standeth daily ministering and offering the same sacrifices,
the same sacrifices, which can never, which can never take away
sins. How can the blood of an animal
put away our sins? What possible connection can
there be between a beast suffering and dying and bleeding, and the
sins of a man being put away before God. A man has to be a
fool to believe that the blood of an animal can put away the
sins of a man. These sacrifices are but a picture. These sacrifices are not the
propitiation. These sacrifices are but an example. These sacrifices are not the
expiation. These sacrifices are but a symbol. These sacrifices are not the
true sacrifice. These sacrifices are but types. They are not the atonement. Turn
back with me to Hebrews 10. Let's read verses 1 through 4
again. I read it a moment ago. For the
law, having a shadow of good things to come, not the image
of those things. This law, this ceremonial law,
these sacrifices, they are a shadow of what's coming. If I'm walking,
the sun's behind me, my shadow's cast in front of me, you can
see the outline. That's not me, that's my shadow.
That's a picture of me. That's an image of me. That's
a symbol of me. They're not the very image of
those things and can never, with those sacrifices which are offered
year by year, continually make the comers there unto perfect,
no matter how sincere a person is. The blood of an animal cannot
put away sin. If it could, they would have
ceased to be offered. Because the worshipers, once
purged, once forgiven, once perfected, once sanctified, have no more
conscience of sin. There's no more reason to bring
a sacrifice. But in these sacrifices, there's a remembrance, again,
made of sin every year. It is not possible that the blood
of bulls and goats should take away sin. Let's add to that.
It's not possible that the sacrament, the communion, the Mass, the
Lord's table could put away sin. It's not possible. The waters
of baptism, the rituals of religion, all of the kneeling, scraping,
frustration of body, prayers can take away sin. These things
cannot put away sin. If these ordained sacrifices
diligently offered by priests appointed of God, and that's
true, these ordained sacrifices diligently, sincerely offered
by priests appointed of God, if these cannot take away sin,
How do you suppose that the things which we make up today and call
essentials to salvation, recipes for redemption, how do you suppose
that they could possibly take away sin? If these sacrifices
ordained of God and offered diligently by priests appointed of God cannot
take away sin, how can a forged sacrifice today take away sin?
So by contrast, the one offering, our Lord, there were many priests
in those days. He is one. There were many sacrifices. His offering is one. These sacrifices
could never take away sin. It says, He by one offering hath
perfected forever. By one offering hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Now notice, secondly, the character
of our Lord's offering. the character of our Lord. Verse
12, the character of His offering. First of all, it says, this man,
this man, shall we call the Lord God of heaven a man? And I thought you said Jesus
Christ was God. I did. Shall we call Him a man?
This man. Well, the Scripture says He was
a man. The Scripture says the Word was made flesh. The Word
of God. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things
were made by Him. Without Him was not anything
made that was made. This Word with God, who was God,
became flesh and dwelt among us. God sent forth His Son in the
fullness of time. God sent forth His Son made of
a woman. This shall be a sign unto you,
this shall be the divine sign unto you, that a virgin shall
conceive and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
Immanuel, which is interpreted God with us." God has vested
us. God is in the flesh. Whom do they say that I, the
Son of Man, am? Christ is asking this. Whom do
they say that I, the Son of Man, Pilate beheld him standing before
the crowd, and said, Behold the man!" Behold the man, this man. This is the man. Now I want to
show you something that every one of us ought to learn. Let's
turn to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, verse 47. Now, if you haven't heard me
so far, if you've been out planting corn or cooking the roast for
dinner or looking around to see what somebody else has got on,
if you've been chewing gum and talking to your neighbor and
your mind's been on the job tomorrow, I want you to get on me right
now, because I want you to learn something that you need to learn.
You've got to understand this. Now watch it. in 1 Corinthians
15, 47. Listen to this. The first man
is of the earth earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. Adam was the first man. Jesus
Christ is the second man. And these two are spoken of as
if they were the only two men in the world, and in a sense,
they are. You see this? The first man is
of the earth. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. There ain't gonna be any more. Now, this is important here.
Adam was the head. and representative of all natural
men. God created Adam, and that was
the only man he created was Adam. The rest of them came out of
Adam. The rest of them identified with Adam. The rest of them were
born from the loins of Adam. The first man, Adam, was the
representative of all natural men. The second man. Now get
this. This is what God says in his
book. The second man is Jesus Christ, for whom a body was prepared
of God. Thou hast prepared for me a body. Jesus Christ didn't come from
this first man, Adam. The first man, Adam, came from
the earth. Jesus Christ was prepared, a body was prepared for him in
the womb of the Virgin by this living God. a body thou hast
prepared me." This second man, Jesus Christ, is the head and
representative of a spiritual race who are all born the same
way, born not of flesh, not of the will of man, but born of
God. Mary complained when this angel
told her she would have a son. She said, I can't have a son.
I don't have a husband. I've never known a man. The angel
said, The Holy Spirit shall overshadow you, the power of God shall be
upon you, and that which shall be conceived in you shall be
called the Son of God. Now the first man, Adam, and
it's just one first man, that was Adam. His very name means
man. He was created out of the dust
from the earth. And he's the head of all natural
men that come from his loins. The second man, the second Adam,
the second man, Jesus Christ, was formed in the womb of the
Virgin by the Spirit of God. And he is the head of the whole
spiritual race who are born of God. You're born again. You must
be born again. You were born the first time.
That which is born the first time is born of flesh. It can't
be anything but flesh. Flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God. You must be born again, born
from above, born of the Spirit, born by the power, born by an
act of God. The first man sinned, and all
his race sinned in him. They became sinners. They became
sensual. They became evil. They cling
to earthly things. They are of their father. They
follow their head. They live in their representative.
They're all under the wrath and condemnation of a holy God. They
do what their will wants to do, and that's to do evil. The second Adam pleased God. This is my son in whom I'm well
pleased. The second Adam pleased God.
The second Adam was obedient to God in all things. The second
Adam, by his death and sacrifice and merit and righteousness,
redeemed his race. The first Adam damned his race. The second Adam redeemed his
race. This man, this man, you see how
important that is? You see why I want you to listen?
All of you by nature, by birth, are identified with Adam, the
first Adam, under the first covenant, under the wrath of God. Oh, by
faith, by grace, by spiritual birth, may we be identified with
the second Adam who restored all that we lost in the first
Adam. Now, read on. Verse 12, But this
man, this man, what man lost? Adam man regained Christ. What man brought through his
wrath and evil and fallen nature, Adam was erased and forgiven
and paid for, justified in the second Adam, Christ. This man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sin, He offered one sacrifice. He himself was
that sacrifice. His body was the altar, himself
the priest, his blood the atonement. Now, if words mean anything,
this is what this is saying. Now listen to it. On Calvary's
tree, Jesus Christ presented himself a substitute for human
guilt. On Calvary's tree he bore the
crushing weight of God's wrath in his own body. On Calvary's
tree, on behalf of all his race, for whom he was the representative,
on him their sins were laid. there he suffered what was due
to the righteousness of God, to the justice of God, and on
Calvary's tree he made atonement to divine justice for all the
sins of all his people. And this was done by one sacrifice,
by one offering, by one suffering, by one death. Nothing needs be
added to it. Look back at Hebrews 10 verse
14, "...by one offering he hath perfected forever." Look at Hebrews 9 verse 11. Listen to this, Hebrews 9 verse
11, "...but Christ," Hebrews 9, 11, "...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 this
building, Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His
own blood He entered in once, not a half a dozen times, not
every Sunday morning at seven o'clock. He entered in once into
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Look
at Hebrews 9, 26, the last line. He hath appeared once in the
end of the world, hath He appeared to put away sin. by the sacrifice
of himself, by one offering. Look back as far as you will,
and there can be no sacrifice for sin except the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Look forward as far as you can
into endless millenniums, and there can be no sacrifice but
that of the Lamb. One word I want you to see and
underscore in your minds at least, verse twelve, this man, the perfect
man, the God-man, the second man, the man from heaven, this
man, after he had offered one sacrifice, not many, one sacrifice
in the stead of, in the place of, four sins, underscored forever. Forever. Forever. Now last of all, the consequence
of his one offering, the results of it. It's threefold. Christ's
sacrifice, His one offering, must be considered threefold.
First, toward Himself. Secondly, toward His enemies.
And thirdly, toward His people. Now, first of all, toward Himself.
It says here in verse twelve, After he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down. What does that mean to you? He
sat down. After he'd offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, he sat down. Now, all these Old Testament
priests never sat down. They never sat down because their
work was never finished. They always stood. Look back
at verse eleven. And every priest standeth, standeth,
standeth daily. Their work was never finished.
Their work was never complete. Their work was never effectual.
They always stood. They never finished. Christ,
after he had offered one sacrifice, sat down. Our Lord sat down because
on the cross of Calvary he cried so that he could be heard in
heaven, earth, and hell. It's finished. It's finished. Man's redemption is finished.
My offering is finished. The sacrifice is finished. The
work is finished. It's finished. Nothing needs
to be added to it. Nothing can be added to it. It's
finished. I'll tell you something else
this says to me. When our Lord sat down, he took
possession of the holy place. He sat down in the holiest of
all, in the presence of the Father. Now this old priest, this old
high priest of Old Testament days, went into the holiest place. He never sat down in there. There
were no chairs in the tabernacle anywhere. particularly in the
holy place, he didn't dare sit down. When the high priest finished
his sacrifice in the Holy of Holies, he came out and he went
home. Our Lord Jesus Christ performed
the work of redemption and sat down because he was at home. He was at home. That's where
he belonged. at the right hand of God. That's where He belongs, in the
holiest of holies. That's where He belongs, in the
presence of the Father. That's where He is at home, because
that's where He came from. And He finished the work of redemption. He finished the offering for
sin. He made one sacrifice for sin
and sat down having completed his work, being at home, waiting
to receive all who would come to him by faith. Now, his work considered toward
his enemies. Look at the next line. From henceforth,
verse 13, expecting till his enemies, till his enemies be
made his footstool. His enemies are defeated, his
enemies are crushed. Who are his enemies? Sin is his
enemy. And by the death of the cross,
Jesus Christ defeated sin and took the sting out of death,
which is sin. The child of God, as I'll show
you tonight, does not fear death because the sting of death has
been removed. The law, which is the strength
of sin, has been satisfied. Satan, that old dragon, has had
his head crushed and his doom sealed. Oh, his feeble fight
goes on, the feeble thrashing of his tail, but his destiny
is sealed. His doom is complete. His power
is crushed. He's in submission to our Lord. The unbeliever shall bow in every
tone, shall confess that he is Lord. He is expecting. He finished
his work and sat down. He's waiting now for all of His
enemies to be brought before Him and by the Father's decree
to own Him as Lord. For every knee shall bow and
every tongue shall confess that He's Lord to the glory of God
the Father. He's Lord by the Father's decree. He's Lord by the Father's design. He's Lord by the death of the
cross. He's Lord by right and position. Now then, let me close with this.
We have seen his death in reference to himself. He finished his work
and sat down. We see his death in reference
and his offering in reference to his enemies. He's waiting,
expecting, till they be brought to be his footstool. Satan's
doom is finished, finally complete. He's defeated. Sin is destroyed. Now toward his people, verse
14, for by one offering, by one offering, he hath perfected. What a word! And yet a word that we are hesitant
to use because it means too much, doesn't it?
We're hesitant to use this word where we're concerned. Perfect.
Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. He hath perfected. Where his
people are concerned, his offering and his death, it does not mean
that we're perfect in character so that we're no longer sinners.
But it means that we are perfectly free from all guilt of sin. When Christ took our sins, sin
no longer remained on us. As far as the guilt of sin is
concerned, every believer is perfected. Sin can't be in two
places at the same time. It can't be put away and on me
still. And God says He put away our
sins. Sin can't be in two places at
the same time. It cannot be on me and in the
body of my Lord. He bore my sins in His body on
the tree. Sin can't be in two places at
the same time. He said He separated our sins
from us forever. They can't be separated and still
on me. So as far as the guilt of sin
is concerned, I am perfected. Every believer is perfected.
Secondly, we are perfectly free from the penalty of sin. The
Scripture says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them who
are in Christ Jesus. No judgment, no charge. Who can
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? By one offering. Look at it. It's right here in
the Word in front of you. By one offering, He has perfected
forever. You say, that doesn't mean that.
I wish preachers and so-called Christians would be honest. John 3.16 says, For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Does
that mean that? That's right, preacher, that
means just what it says. By one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Does that mean that? No, that
doesn't mean that. Now, why is it that John 3.16
means just what it says, but Hebrews 10.14 doesn't mean what
it says? I'll tell you why. Because it
doesn't fit in with our theology. It doesn't give man the glory.
It doesn't leave salvation in the hands of sinful man. It puts
it in the hands of the living God. And we rebel against it. But I'm here to tell you this.
John 3.16 means just exactly what it says. And Hebrews 10.14
means just precisely what it says, too. He hath perfected
forever. I'm as perfect as God Almighty
right now in Christ. And every believer
is just as perfect as the Son right now in the sight of God.
That's what it says. He hath perfected forever. Forever. Forever. He offered one sacrifice
for sins forever. He perfected forever them that
are sanctified. We're sanctified, we're set apart
for the glory of God, for the glorious use of God, for the
service of God, for the honor and glory of God. But brethren,
when Christ died, he put away our sin. We don't have them anymore. The guilt of sin, the penalty
of sin, the power of sin. Now then, we still have sin remaining in
the nature. And I think I'll deal with Wednesday
night. There is a nature of flesh. There is the old nature. There's
a nature that we conflict with day after day. There's a new
nature. There's a spiritual nature. There's
a holy nature. It can do no wrong. There's a
nature of sin that can do no right. But as far as the justification
and the sacrifice and the offering, we're perfect. As far as our character and our
behavior, we're sinners saved by grace. As far as God's justice
is concerned and the righteousness of God, we're perfect, we're
holy, we're just waiting the day when God will take us home.
While by one offering, He has perfected them that are sanctified. That's the gospel. That's the
gospel. And that's the—you say, Brother
May, if I could just believe that. That's the reason it's
called good news. That's the reason it's called
good news. If I stood up here and preached that salvation was
something you did for God instead of something God did for you,
that wouldn't be good news. But when I stand up here and
tell you that in Christ you have perfection, in Christ you have
acceptance, we're accepted in the Beloved. Who shall stand
in His presence? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. Anybody want to volunteer here?
Nobody here is going to claim to have clean hands and a pure
heart. But in Christ we do. We're accepted in the Beloved.
So get in Christ by faith. Run to Christ. He's the city
of refuge. Run to Him. You're the slayer. Run to Christ. He's the shelter
in time of storm. Get under the shelter. Out yonder,
it's raining. He's the ark of safety. Get in
the ark. Come thou fount of every blessing.
tune my heart to sing thy grace, streams of mercy never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise." Here it is, 104. "'Come, thou
fount,' he's the fount of every blessing, he's the fount of every
blessing, the source of every grace, from him streams every
mercy." 104, I'll ask you to stand with me while we sing,
104.