Now, for the morning message
on this subject, but this man, this man, but this man. Now, in Hebrews chapter 10, verse
1, the Apostle Paul declares that the ceremonial law, that
is, the law of Moses, not the Ten Commandments, but the ceremonial
law with its special days, with its feasts and its Sabbaths,
with its thousands of sacrifices, with its blood offerings, with
its ceremonies, can never, can never take away sin. That's what
he said in verse 1. The law, being a shadow, a type
of good things to come, and not the very image of those things,
can never can never take away sin, can never, with those sacrifices
which are offered year after year after year, make the comers
thereunto perfect. These sacrifices and these ceremonies
and these blood offerings can never take away sin. Now this is obvious, and it's
obvious for three reasons. Verse 2 tells us the first For
if these sacrifices and these ceremonies and these blood offerings,
if they could take away sin, then they would have ceased to
be offered. If they could put away sin, they
would have ceased to be offered. For if they could see, there'd
be no reason to keep offering them year after year after year. If Abraham's sacrifice put away
Abraham's sin, then he wouldn't have to bring another one next
week, and next month, and next year. And then this is obvious. These ceremonies and sacrifices
can never put away sin for the second reason, verse 3. For in
those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. In other words, these continual
sacrifices bring a fresh remembrance of sin year after year. Every
time a sacrifice is offered, it says sin is still there. Every time the old high priest
went under the veil into the Holy of Holies and offered the
blood atonement on the mercy seat, that's a saying. Sin isn't
removed yet. The perfect sacrifice has not
been offered yet. Atonement has not been attained
yet. Forgiveness is not there yet.
The perfect sacrifice has not yet been made. If these sacrifices
could take away sin, they would have ceased to be offered. And
secondly, in the fact that they are offered every year, there
is a remembrance of sin. Every time a sacrifice is offered,
it says sin is still present. And then the third reason, verse
4, it is obvious that these ceremonies and sacrifices can never take
away sin, because the blood of an animal cannot put away the
sin of a man. Read it, verse 4. It is not possible
that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. The blood
of an animal cannot put away the sin of a man. This is not
the same blood, this is not the same person who has sinned, and
the blood of an animal cannot be effectual to the redeeming
of a man's soul. The blood of a man cannot put
away sin, let alone the blood of an animal. Turn to verse 11
of Hebrews 10. And every priest, there were
many of them, Literally thousands of them, thousands upon thousands
of priests, century after century, decade after decade, year after
year. Many priests, every priest. Read it. Standeth daily. He stands because his work is
never done. He stands because his work is
never finished. The priest of the Old Testament
never sat down. with all of the furniture that
was in the tabernacle, there was not one chair, because the
priest always stood. Every priest, thousands of them,
many priests, standeth daily, every day, offering the same
sacrifices. Daily ministering, daily offering
the same sacrifices which were types of Christ, and pictures
of Christ, and symbols of Christ. and they proved the faith of
those who brought them. But these same sacrifices, and
underscored in your Bible, can never take away sin. These sacrifices can never take
away sin. Now, I'm going to say something
here, and I want to say it carefully. I want to say it prayerfully
and reverently. But these Old Testament sacrifices,
every one that Abel brought, and Abraham brought, and Aaron
brought, and the sons of Levi, and the great high priests through
the years, these sacrifices without the Lord Jesus Christ to ultimately
and finally fulfill them. Without Jesus Christ, these blood
offerings of the Old Testament are as meaningless and as ineffectual
and powerless to put away one sin as the pagan sacrifices in
the heart of Africa are powerless to keep away evil spirits without
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the reason God says, I'm
tired of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings. Away with
them, they're a stench in my nostril. Without Christ, these
sacrifices of all of the Old Testament believers and saints,
without Christ, They are as ineffectual and powerless to put away sin
as a pagan sacrifice of a heathen potentate in the heart of Africa
is powerless to put away evil spirits. They can never, every
priest, many priests, thousands of priests, standeth daily Offering,
ministering, oftentimes the same sacrifices over and over and
over and over again, which can never take away sin, never take
away sin. What's the next line? But this
man, but this man, not just any man, this man, not just a man,
this man, this man. He stood before Pilate, his hands
tied behind his back, the crown of thorns upon his brow, the
mocking robe upon his bruised and beaten and bleeding shoulders.
He stood there with his eyes blackened and his face bleeding, and his
shoulders stooped beneath the load of weariness and sorrow
and pain and agony of a night of suffering in the soldier's
hall. And Pilate looked up at that multitude after looking
at Jesus of Nazareth, and he said, the man. That's the man Paul's
talking about here. All of your Old Testament priests
and all of your Old Testament sacrifices and all of your blood
offerings and all of your new moons and Sabbaths and all of
your days of atonement and all of your special days and feasts
and all of these things put together can never take away sin. Never. But this man, As Pilate
said, the man, not any man, not a man, not some man, this man,
this man. Turn to Isaiah chapter 32. Isaiah
was talking about him in chapter 32 and verse 2 when he said this,
Isaiah 32 verse 2. Isaiah said, and a man, a man. And a man shall be as a hiding
place from the wind, and a man shall be as a covert from the
tempest, and a man shall be as rivers of water in a dry place,
and a man shall be as a shadow of a great rock in a weary land. The man, but this man. And Paul said in the book of
Timothy there is one God and one mediator between God and
men. The man. The man. Christ Jesus. By man came death. By man came resurrection. By
man came sin. By man came salvation. By man came evil. by man came
righteousness, by man came separation from the Father, by man came
reconciliation to the Father. This man. But this man, this
man. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
15. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, reading verse 47. Listen to it. 1 Corinthians 15,
verse 47. The first man, is of the earth, earthy. Thank God we didn't stop there. Thank God in his eternal purpose
and grace and mercy he didn't stop there. The first man brought
death, the first man brought disease, the first man brought
separation from God, the first man is of the earth, earthy. The second man, and it's just
been two. All men are represented by these
two. You're either in the first Adam or in the second Adam. The
first man is the man, Adam, is of the earth, earthy. The second
man is whom? He is the Lord from heaven. That's who he is. This man. But
this man is the Lord from heaven. And as the earth, and as is the
earthy, such are they also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly,
such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image
of the earthy, and we bear it well, don't we? So shall we also
bear the image of the heavenly, this man. This man is the Lord
from heaven. He's not just a man, he's not
just some man, he's not just any man. This man is the Lord
from heaven. Turn to John chapter 10. Now
these people over here understood what Christ was saying. Most
religious people today are not still long enough to listen to
him, to understand what he said. In John chapter 10, verse 31,
the Jews took up stones to stone him. And Jesus answered in verse
32, Many good works have I showed you from my Father, for which
of these works do you stone me? And they said, For a good work
we stonely not. but for blasphemy, because thou
being a man makest thyself God." They understood exactly what
he was saying. And most religious people today
are too busy with their religion, and they're too busy with their
traditions, and they're too busy playing church to be still long
enough to listen to God speak and to listen to what he says.
This man, but this Who is this man? This man is the Lord from
heaven. Who is this man? This man is
God Himself. Who is this man? This man is
God incarnate. John said, The Word was made
fresh and dwells among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory
as of the only begotten Son of God. Turn to John 14. Who is this man? John 14. tells us Philip said in verse
7, or verse 8, Show us the Father. Show us the Father. Show us the
Father. And Jesus said unto him, Philip,
have I been with you so long, and yet you haven't known me?
Could that be said to you? Have you been in church so long,
and still you don't know the Lord? You've got a lot of religion,
you've got a lot of motion, and you've got a lot of tradition,
and you've got a lot of doctrine, you've got a lot of theology.
Have I been around so long you still don't know me? Philip,
he that hath seen me, hath seen the Father. Christ is the only
person who could say that. An angel, Gabriel, couldn't come
down here and say, you've seen me, you've seen God. The apostles
couldn't stand before the people and say, you've seen me, you've
seen God. Nobody can say that but Jesus
Christ, because he is God. He is the Lord from heaven. You've
seen me, you've seen God. Turn to Matthew 1.23. This is
mighty important. Who is this man? In Matthew 1.23,
the angels talking to Joseph. And the angel said in Matthew
1, verse 21, talking about Mary, she shall bring forth a son.
Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sin. And verse 23, for the Scripture
says, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
forth a son, and thou shalt call his name. They shall call his
name Emmanuel, which is being interpreted. God with us. God with us. God with us. Turn back to the text. Hebrews
chapter 10. Every priest, there were many
of them, standeth daily because their work is never done, ministering
and offering the same sacrifices because they can never take away
sin. But this man, Jesus of Nazareth,
This man, the Lord from heaven, this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, what was his one sacrifice? Turn back to Hebrews 9 verse
26. What was it? His one sacrifice
was the sacrifice of himself. Himself. In Hebrews 9.26, 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 to put
away sin. How? By some mumbo-jumbo of words. To put away sin, how? By learning
and memorizing his doctrine. to put away sin, how? By the
sacrifice of himself. The Old Testament priest offered
the blood of goats, Christ offered his blood. The Old Testament
priest offered the blood of sheep, Christ gave himself. He stood before his disciples
on the eve of his crucifixion and he took bread and he break
it and gave thanks and said, This is my body which is broken
for you. He took the wine and gave it
to them and he said, This is my blood which is shed for you. And not only his body and his
blood, but his very soul was made an offering for sin. Turn
to Isaiah 53. the very soul of Christ. Christ
actually suffered our hell in his body and in his soul. He gave himself. In Isaiah 53, verse 10, "...yet
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief,
when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin." One of
the apostles said, writing the words of Christ our Lord, fear
not them which kill the body, and after that have no more that
they can do. But rather I say unto you, fear
Him who is able to cast you body and soul into hell." You know,
preachers talking about eternal punishment, preachers preaching
about eternal condemnation, preachers preaching about eternal hell
usually spend their time talking about the flames of hell and
the suffering of the body, but I say unto you, the suffering
of the body in hell will not be one thousandth, one ten thousandth
the suffering and agony of the soul in darkness separated from
God. Christ made His soul an offering
for sin. His one sacrifice was the sacrifice
of himself. Now turn back to the text. But
this man, this man, this Lord from heaven, this Emmanuel, God
with us, this God-man, this man, this God in the flesh, this man,
this perfect man, this man offered himself as a sacrifice for what? For sins. This man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins, The Scripture says the
wages of sin is death. Christ died. The Scripture says
the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Christ died. In 1 Peter
2, verse 24, listen to it, "...who his own self bare our sins in
his own body on the tree." Turn to 2 Corinthians 5.21. The Scripture
says in 2 Corinthians 5.21, He, God the Father, hath made Him,
Jesus Christ the Son, to be sin for us. He took our guilt and
our filth and our sin in His body. He knew no sin. He took our guilt in His body
on the tree that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. This man See those Old Testament
priests going about their daily sacrifices. See those Old Testament
priests year after year after year going into the Holy of Holies.
See the blood shed year after year, sacrifice after sacrifice,
offering after offering, can never, can never put away sin. But this man, and he's not just
a man, he's not just any man, he is the man. the man that shall
be a hiding place, the man that shall be a refuge, the man that
shall be a covert from the tempest." This man, by one sacrifice, the
sacrifice of himself, his body, his soul, his sacrifice for sins,
forever, underscore that word in Hebrews 10, this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, forever. Look at verse 14. For by one
offering, one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified, them that are believers, them that are brought to them
who are his in covenant mercies, them who are his in eternal purpose,
them who are his by eternal grace. He hath perfected, not partially
perfected, forever all them that are sanctified. You go back yonder and gather
all the sins of all believers from the first sin ever committed,
You walk through the Old Testament days and gather all the sins
of all believers. You go through the New Testament
days and gather all the sins, both of word, of thought, of
deed, of motivation, of attitude, imagination. Gather all the sins
of all the people in the days of the apostles, and the dark
ages, and the middle ages, and the Reformation, and the modern
days, and all sins of all believers in the future. from eternity
to eternity, and they were all laid on Christ. And he paid effectually
the price to redeem all his people from all sin, from all ages. This man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sin forever, he doesn't have to die this He
doesn't have to die again next week. By one sacrifice, he redeemed
all them that are sanctified, from all ages, forever, forever! Not for six months, forever!
Not for six years, forever! That's what the Bible says. In
Revelation 5, In verse 9 it says, they sung a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy to take the book, and open the seal of that off,
for thou wast slain, and thou hast redeemed us to God by thy
blood. Out of every kindred, not just
the Jew nor just the Gentile of our day, forever from every
kindred, forever from every tongue, forever from every people, forever
from every nation. Go back there and pick up that
little tribe that existed in the days of Moses, and our Lord's
got a people among them. It might be an infant that died
at birth. It may be a child that died in
its mother's arms. It may be an old man that was
a proselyte to the faith of Abraham. But God's got a people out of
every tribe, I guarantee you. and every nation and every tongue
and every kindred and every people redeemed by the blood of Jesus
Christ, by his one sacrifice forever. That's the victory of
the cross. Now, look at the text again in
Hebrews 10. In Hebrews 10, all these Old
Testament by their daily offerings and sacrifices and rituals and
ceremonies, can never put away sin. And you can include all
of your communion, and all of your church ordinances, and your
baptisms, and your rituals, and your praying through, and your
hour walking, and your handshaking, and your decision making, can
never put away sin. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins. One. Forever. Watch it. He sat down. Now, that's mighty
important there. He sat down. The work of redemption
is complete. How do I know that? Christ sat
down. The very fact that he sat down,
the very fact that he is at rest, proves that his work's finished.
The Old Testament priest never sat down. The Old Testament priest never
sat down. He said, I never noticed that
before, I never did pay attention to those words, he sat down.
You're too busy running around singing, Oh, How I Love Jesus,
to pay any attention to what he says. We're too busy singing
our cantatas and putting on our little programs and trying to
get everybody to come to church. We're too busy serving the Lord
to sit down and listen to God. It's been so long since most
people in the church sat down and listened to God that I can
preach a message over the radio and somebody accidentally sit
down and listen to it and they say, well, I never heard that
before. Well, it's been in the Bible 3,500 years. He sat down because his work was finished.
The Old Testament priest never sat down, never, because his
work was never done. The Lord Jesus Christ sat down
if the last thread, now you listen to me, if the last thread had
not been woven in the garment of righteousness, he'd be spinning
it now. But he's sitting down, he's finished. If the last particle of my sin
debt had not been paid, he'd be counting it out right now!
But he's not, he's sitting down. If the foundation of our hope
had not been dug and laid and poured, he'd be laying it now!
But he's not, he's sitting down. While he was here on this earth,
his so-called father and his mother were hunting him, and
they said, You've worried us, we've hunted you. He said, I
must be about my father's business. But not now, he's sitting down.
That's what's in. No more toil, no more the weary
foot, no more the hunger, no more the sorrow, no more the
thirst, no more the bloody cross, no more the bloody spear, no
more the grave. He sat down. I wish I could get
that across to every Catholic priest and every free willer
in this country. Christ sat down! He's finished
his word. He's finished it. Now, you may
be worshiping a little frustrated, defeated, disappointed Jesus
that's up there walking the floors of heaven because he can't get
his will down on this earth, but that's not the God of the
Bible. He sat down. Now watch the next line. This
man, this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever,
sat down where? At the right hand of God. Now if you don't hear anything
else I say today, I want you to listen. This is the most important
paragraph in this message right here. And this is something,
before I give it, I wish you'd ask your preachers that work
with you on the job what this means. Ninety-nine percent of
them don't even know. Did you know that there's a man, a man,
the man, sitting at God's right hand in heaven right now? There's
a man. And that's one of the greatest
comforts that you possibly can have, you men and women, boys
and girls, is that there's a man that's entered heaven. There's
a man sitting at God's right hand. There's a man who's won
the victory. There's a man who's already in
heaven, not an angel, not a special messenger. There's a man, flesh
and bone man, sitting at God's right hand. Does that mean anything
to you? Listen good. The right hand of
the king is reserved for whom? The right hand of the king is
reserved for the favorite. The right hand of the king is
reserved for the beloved. The right hand of the king is
reserved for the accepted. And that's where Christ is seated.
That's what this says right here. He sat down at the right hand
of God. My friends, Jesus Christ came
down here to this earth, and he stood in the sinner's place. He was identified and numbered
with the transgressors, and our sins were imputed unto him. He
became one with us. Jesus Christ became a man, came
down here to this earth, and was numbered with us as our head,
as our representative, as our brother. He was one with us,
one in the transgression, one in the fall, one in the rebellion.
He was numbered with us. And the Father accounted him
as a sinner. The Father charged him as a sinner. As a sinner, he could not enter
heaven. As a sinner he could not enter
heaven until he had paid for all the sins he bore, and all
the sins he took upon himself. God's justice and God's righteousness
must be satisfied. Now the fact that God has allowed
that man, Jesus Christ the man, to ascend into heaven And not
only to ascend into heaven, but to be seated, turn to Hebrews
1 verse 13, to be seated at his right hand reveals what? It reveals the fact the Father
has accepted his work. The Father has accepted his sacrifice. The Father has accepted you and
me in him, in the Beloved. to share his glory, God has accepted
us holy and without blame, to sit at his right hand. Read verse
13 of Hebrews 1. But to which of the angels, as
beautiful as they are, to which of the angels, as powerful as
they are, to which of the angels, as loyal as they are, to which
of the angels did he say at any time, Sit on my right hand? That's reserved for the beloved.
That's reserved for the favorite. That's reserved for the Son. There is a man at God's right
hand. What makes you think that as
a man, flesh and blood, who's offended a holy God, who's dipped
to the bottom of the dunghill and cesspool of crime and sin
and evil, what makes you think that a man like you can ever
enter heaven itself, because there's a man already entered
there? What makes you think that the Father will ever embrace
you and receive you and love you because there's a man already
there who was identified with me, who
was numbered with me, who was my companion in transgression? That's right. That's right. Jesus Christ, the man. There
is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man. Christ
Jesus. And there's a man at God's right
hand, my comrade, my brother, my companion, my foe, who was
numbered with me in my transgressions, and when the Father accepted
him, he accepted me because he, the man, represented me. He went
into the court of heaven. He went into the holy court of
the Father. He went into the holy presence
of God. And the Father embraced him and
said, Here, sit on my right hand. And when he sat down, I sat down
with him. And so did every believer. I
sat down with him. And I'm as sure for heaven as
the Son sits on the right hand of the Father. All right, look at the next line.
If you want to trust these priests that are going daily offering
their little sacrifices and their little masses and their little
offerings, you go right ahead. But this man, this man, my man,
God's man, my representative, God's elect, This man came down
here and offered one sacrifice, just one, but he offered the
perfect sacrifice. He offered himself, his body,
his soul. He made one sacrifice and with
it he sanctified forever them that are his. And he entered
the presence of the Father and sat down on God's right hand,
and sat down. Look at verse 13, "...from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." What are
the expectations of Christ? In one sense, it's already done.
He said, "...all things are delivered unto me of my Father." Jesus,
knowing that all things were given into his hands, he said,
"...all authority is given unto me in heaven and earth." He died
that he might be the Lord of the living and the dead. My friends,
what are wicked men but the servants of Christ's providence to accomplish
his purpose? Did you know that? This is my
Father's world. Let me never forget that though
the wrong seems all so strong, God's the ruler, yet this is
my Father's world, and the battle's not done. Jesus who died shall
be satisfied, and heaven and earth shall be one. His enemies
are already, in a sense, his footstool, for he said, I have
all power over all flesh, that I should give eternal life to
as many as the Father hath given me. But at his coming, when he
comes back again, you and I are going to see all things subdued
and under his feet. Satan and the fallen angel shall
be cast out. All rebels shall hear him say,
Depart from me, I never knew you. And every believer shall
hear him say, Enter ye, blessed, into the kingdom prepared for
you before the foundation of the world." But this man, that's
the gospel, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever,
He has a priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, without
beginning or ending of days, without descent, without mother
or father. One sacrifice forever sat down
at the right hand of God, expecting till all of his enemies he made
his footstool. I don't want to be his enemy
and his footstool. I want to sit with him. I want
to share his glory. I want to enjoy his blessed presence. I want to be one of his own.
Don't you? Our Father in Heaven, take the message and use it for
the glory of our dear Son, for the breaking of the proud heart,
for the shattering of religious tradition in which men hide,
hoping to find mercy. use the message to accomplish
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation of all who
hear it. And we'll praise thee and give
thee the glory forever. Through Christ our Lord we pray.
Amen.