Our Bibles to Hebrews chapter
nine. Reading verses 24 through 26. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands. which are the figures of the
true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence
of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often as a high priest enters into the holy place every
year with blood of others, 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 by the sacrifice of
himself. Just over 2400 years ago, when
the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son,
made of a woman. That refers, of course, to his
incarnation. God became flesh. God was made
flesh and dwelt among us, the scripture says. He came to be
God's prophet, God's priest, and God's king. He was typified
as God's prophet by Moses of old, as God's priest by Aaron,
the first high priest, and by David, the king of Israel. As God's priest, the day came. The day came after three years
of public ministry when the Lord Jesus Christ, for three, three
and a half years, preached as a prophet of God. But then the
day came when Romans 8, 32 tells us, he, that is God, spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for us all. God delivered
him up to be the propitiation for our sins. He's the only propitiation
for sin. And the apostle John wrote, herein
is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent
his son to be the propitiation for our sins. On the third day
after his death, he rose and appeared to his disciples over
a period of 40 days. He appeared to several of his
disciples, all of them actually, but in several different occasions. And then the day came of his
ascension. when we are told he was taken
into heaven. So we have his incarnation, when
he was born of the Virgin Mary, he was made flesh, the word was
made flesh and dwelt among us, as John tells us. And then the
day, 40 days after his resurrection, when he was taken into heaven,
his ascension. And that's what we read here
in verse 24. For Christ has not entered into the holy places
made with hands. He did not enter into that beautiful
tabernacle that Moses was commanded to raise up in the wilderness.
And I said beautiful because it was beautiful. There was so
much gold. Men still consider gold to be
the most valuable metal, don't we? Think about gold. Well, that tabernacle was filled
with gold, pieces of wood overlaid with gold. And all the pieces
of furniture inside the tabernacle, the candlestick, it was made
of one piece. When I think about that, I think
about the wisdom. The scripture says God gave that
man, I can't remember his name, but God gave him wisdom. Think
about this, to take one piece of gold and to beat that into
what we call the candelabra with three lamps on each side and
one in the middle, seven lamps there. And it was decorated with
with knobs, which were almonds, and the wisdom, but it was all
of gold. It was all of gold. And then
the table of showbread. It pictured the Lord Jesus Christ,
didn't it? Because it was made of incorruptible
wood, picturing his humanity, sinless humanity, but then it
was all covered over with gold, picturing his deity. And then
there was the altar, the golden altar. It was also made of incorruptible
wood covered over with gold. But the Lord didn't enter into
that tabernacle. That's what we read here. For
Christ has not entered into the holy places made with hands. God gave wisdom to those men
to to make the tabernacle, to build
the tabernacle, all the parts of it, and to raise it up. But
it was made with hands, the hands of men. Nor did he enter into
the temple that Solomon built, which was also a beautiful, beautiful
temple. It, if possible, even had more
gold in it. Those cherubims, you know, looked
over the mercy seat and their wings reached from one wall to
the other wall. And they were made with incorruptible
wood and gold. And they were made to look over
the mercy seat. But the Lord didn't enter into
that tabernacle. And then, of course, Nebuchadnezzar
and the Babylonians, they destroyed that temple, burned it. And they
did so because of Israel's sin, because of their wickedness,
going away from God, turning to idolatry. And God brought
destruction upon them. And then they came back after
70 years in captivity, and they built a temple under Zerubbabel,
you know. And it was a beautiful temple,
but not nearly on the on the scale of the temple that Solomon
built. And then Herod in the New Testament,
sometimes I believe it's referred to as Herod's temple. Herod refurbished
the temple and beautified the temple. It was a beautiful building
from what I've read. When you would approach to Jerusalem,
he had placed gold up on top of the temple and you would see
that gold shining from the sun beating down upon the gold. But
that's not where the Lord entered, was it? All of those places,
the tabernacle, the temples, they were all things made with
the hands of men. No, he's entered into heaven
itself. Notice that, for Christ is not
entered into the holy places made with hands which are figures
of the true. They were just pictures or types
of the true tabernacle, the tabernacle in heaven, but into heaven itself. But the point I want to make
especially is that next phrase of that sentence, now to appear
in the presence of God for us. Now, what's he been doing for
the last 2,400 years? What's he been doing? He's been
there appearing for us before God. He has entered there to
appear in the presence of God for us. Now that was pictured
by the high priest in the tabernacle. When he would go into the tabernacle,
not into the Holy of Holies, but when he went into the tabernacle
to minister, And he might do that every day. There were other
priests, of course, that ministered there. There had to be the lamps
trimmed every day. There had to be incense offered
every day on the golden altar. But he went in there with two things on his shoulder to
connect the front part to the back part of his dress there. And you know what was engraved
on each one of those pieces of jewelry was the name six on one,
six on the other of the 12 tribes of Israel. And then he had the
breastplate showing that the Lord Jesus Christ is our strength,
carrying on his shoulder, but that we are on his heart. But that was pictured in the
Old Testament by that priest. He went in there to appear in
that tabernacle for the nation of Israel. But the Lord Jesus
Christ now, he has entered not into any tabernacle made with
hands, but into heaven itself. And he's entered there to appear
for us. He appears there for us as our
intercessor. I want you to keep your place
here, but let's look at a few verses of Scripture tonight.
If you would, turn back to Romans, chapter 5. Romans, chapter 5, and verse
10. What a wonderful passage this
is, speaking to us of the death of Christ. In verse 10, it says,
for if, when we were enemies, and we all were, we were all
enemies to God. People say, I don't know where
you get that. I just got, I just read it. Didn't
you read that? For when we were enemies, whose
enemies? God's enemies, why? Because of
our sins. God is holy. For if, when we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God, how? By the death of
His Son. What does it mean to be reconciled?
It means to be brought into peace with God. Therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't it wonderful tonight? If
you're saved here this evening, isn't it wonderful just to think
about the fact God's not mad at you. You've been reconciled. Yes, you were at, you were enmity. I started to say at enmity. No,
at enmity. You were enmity with God. I was
enmity with God. All men are. But through the
death of his son, we've been reconciled. We have peace with
God. All right, notice the rest of
that. Being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. He said, I thought we were saved
by his death. We are, but don't leave out his
work of intercession, his life. He's living today. He's there
in the presence of God. He's appearing there for us. for his people. All right, look
in chapter 8 of Romans. Romans chapter 8, verse 34. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again. who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. He appears in the presence of
God for us, and what is he doing there? He is making intercession
for us. He intercedes for us. All right,
look at one other place. Back in Hebrews chapter seven,
in verse 25, We sang that hymn just a few
minutes ago. He is able. He is able to deliver
thee. That's what that king asked Daniel,
wasn't it? Darius, after he had put Daniel
in that lion's den. Everybody just knew Daniel was
eaten. The lions had feasted upon him. But what did the king ask Daniel? He cried into that den and said,
Is your God able to deliver you? Oh, what a question to put to a religious
world. Is the God that you believe in,
the God who wants to do things, but God will not allow him? I
mean, man will not allow God to do what God wants to do? That
kind of a God, can he deliver you? Not hardly. Not hardly, no. Our God is able
to deliver every sinner that comes to Christ by faith. Deliver
us from the penalty, the power, and the presence of sin. But
notice it says, wherefore he is able also to save them to
the uttermost that come unto God by him. Let me ask you something,
when you go to God, How do you go? Do you go by him? Do you? Those who are saved go
to God. They just don't run into the
presence of God. They go to God by him. That is
that mediator that is between God Almighty and us. Seen he ever liveth to make intercession
for them. Most professed Christians think
only of the need of Christ dying for us, and that's very important. We wouldn't do away with that,
wouldn't say anything to make light of that. But believers
must also realize the absolute need we have for him living for
us, now in heaven interceding for us. Arthur Fink wrote, and I quote,
the Lord Jesus lives a mediatorial life in heaven for his people.
As he died for them, so he lives for them. And therefore does
he assure them, because I live, ye shall live also. Because I
live, because he's living there, always. making intercession for
his people. In 1 Corinthians, the Apostle
Paul writing about the resurrection, how if Christ was not raised,
and think about this, there's a church that was begun by the
Apostle Paul preaching the gospel there in Corinth. raised up by
God, and before Paul passed off the scene, there were already
people in that church denying the literal resurrection of Christ. The church has always had its
enemies, and nothing has changed, and people come in subtly, and
many times they come into the pulpit, and they began to deny
that the Bible is God's word. They began to deny creation and
start talking about evolution. I told a man just recently, I
said, if I can't believe the Bible and it speaks about God
creating the world, then why could I believe it when the Bible
speaks about him saving us? No, all the word of God as the
Apostle Paul said, is the inspired word of God and profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
Holy men of old, Peter said, they wrote as they were moved
by the Holy Spirit. But people have allowed men into
the pulpit who deny, they deny the sovereignty of God. They deny God's sovereign election. Someone said one time, well,
that's hard to understand. No, it's not hard to understand.
A natural man does not want to
accept the fact that God is sovereign. But you read the word of God
and it's clear as a bell that God chose his people from before
the foundation of the world. It's not hard to understand,
it may be hard to accept if a person hasn't been reconciled to God. And that's one reason, not the
only reason, but that's one reason why it is so important that we
declare the sovereignty of God. Because God uses that truth to
bring men down and to show men. their need of God, their need
of Christ. But people are in the pulpits
denying things like that today. But in that church at Corinth,
there were some who were already denying the resurrection of Christ. And you know, Paul, he wrote,
said many things there, but in one verse he said, and if Christ
be not raised, If Christ be not raised, if he's not at the right
hand of the Father tonight making intercession for us, if Christ
be not raised, your faith is vain. It's empty. We might as well close the doors,
eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. Because we have
no hope unless we have a Savior who, yes, died, but conquered
death. It came out of the grave, and
now he appears in the presence of God for us. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain, you are yet in your sins. That's what the
Apostle Paul wrote. Now, I have four things tonight
that I want to mention about Christ being our intercessor. as he there tonight interceding
for his people. The first thing, as our intercessor,
he presents us in his own person. That is, he presents his people
in his own person, because we're all members of his body. He's
the head. Yes, it's a mystical body, I
understand that. But we're members of his body. And when the Father looks on
Him and sees the Son, He sees us in the Son. He sees us in
the Son. And He only makes intercession.
You know, if you want to know about His intercession, read
John chapter 17. That's kind of a preview of His
intercession in heaven when He prayed that prayer that's often
referred to as His high priestly prayer. recorded in John chapter
17, but remember this, his prayer, he only made intercession for
his people. He said, I pray for them. I pray
not for the world. But for them, who's he praying
for? Who's he making intercession
for? I pray not for the world, I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them, which thou hast given me. Thine they
are, or they are thine, for they are thine. I believe there's
six places, if you read through that chapter, that prayer of
the Lord Jesus Christ, six times, mentions to his father that he
was given a people. He was given, when was he given
those people? Well, in that covenant of grace,
it's an everlasting covenant, isn't it? But he appears there
as our intercessor and he presents us in his own person. Second, as our intercessor, he
presents our works. Remember this verse over here
in Ephesians chapter two. Let's turn over there. Or I'll turn because I don't
want to try to misquote it and quote it wrong. But in Ephesians
chapter two, for by grace, verse eight, for by grace are you saved
through faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast, Now watch this, for we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. As our intercessor, he presents
our works. The apostle said our good works,
that he's ordained that we walk in good works. But with our good
works, as with everything that we do, there's sin mixed in. Even in our good works, there's
sin mixed in everything we do because there's still sin in
us. The high priest, and this is
pictured, typified in the Old Testament by the high priest,
I think, so well. Remember that beautiful dress
that he had? But then at the end, God said,
put a plate of gold on his forehead and attach it with a blue ribbon.
And do you know what was engraved on that plate of gold? Holiness
unto the Lord. Holiness unto the Lord. Now our
Lord doesn't need a plate of gold because he is holy. He is
holy. But listen to the reason that
God gave Moses for this last piece of dress upon the high
priest. He said it shall be upon Aaron's
forehead. Now listen, that Aaron may bear
the iniquity of the holy things. Of the holy things? Yeah. Even in our holy things. there's
iniquity. In our good works, there is iniquity. What would we consider our holy
things? Wouldn't it be our worship? Wouldn't
that be something we would consider as a holy thing, when we come
here to worship the Lord? But think about this. How many
times since we've come in and we've sang hymns and We're preaching
the word of God. Has our mind wandered way off
somewhere out there, something we're going to do tomorrow, somebody
we're going to talk to, something we need to do? Our holy things. What about when we pray? Do you
ever start praying, and then before you know it, your mind
is thinking about something altogether different? He intercedes for us. He draws
out that sin that is in our good works, our holy things, and He
presents that unto the Father. And when He presents it with
His work, it's accepted of the Father. As our intercessor, He observes
our failings. our failings in these things,
and he draws out before he presents them unto God. He draws those
failings out. And even that which may be good
in these things, he mingles with his prayers and presents them
as one work to the Father. We could never do any good work
if the Lord didn't take that work, draw out that which is
sinful on our part, and add to it his sufficiency, and present
it to the Father. And the Father's pleased with
it. A third thing. As our intercessor, he perfumes
our prayers. He perfumes our prayers. Let
me show you that, if you will, in Revelation chapter 8. Revelation chapter 8 and verse 3, we read, And another angel came
and stood at the altar, having a golden censer. And there was
given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with
the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which was before
the throne. and the smoke of the incense
which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before
God out of the angel's hand. This angel here, and the word
angel means messenger, and we know before his incarnation he
is called the angel of his presence, and he is a messenger of the
covenant. And this is symbolic here of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's referred to here as an angel,
but it is his incense. Now some find fault. They say,
well, this says it was given unto him. Yes, it does. But remember,
he was given. He was given. For God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. But
this is just symbolic, of course, but it pictures how with our
prayers, he adds, or he perfumes them, and they ascend like the
smoke from the incense ascends on high. They're presented in
the presence of God. And to show you this, look in
Ephesians 5 and verse 2. And walk in love, Ephesians 5
and verse 2. walk in love, as Christ also
hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and
a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor." Now, when we think of
God's smelling, we don't understand maybe we think of smelling with
our nose, but what this is saying is God found rest. God found
pleasure. in the sacrifice of Christ. He found rest, satisfied with
his sacrifice. And that's perfume mixed with
our prayers, that our prayers may ascend unto the Father. One last thing. As our intercessor,
he is our advocate. 1 John chapter 2. First John chapter two. My little children, these things
write unto you that you sin not. And that should always be our
goal, isn't it? That should be our desire, our
prayer. It is that we live without sin. But we're not so foolish as to
believe that that may be achieved in this world. As long as we
have the flesh, we're not going to live in this world without
sin. But as the apostle wrote, I write unto you that you sin
not. Doesn't mean we just lay down
and give up, you know, and say, well, you know, we We can't live
above sin, so yes it does, makes a difference. God's people are
to be a strange people, separated people from the world. And if, we might say when, when
any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ,
the righteous. And he is the propitiation for
our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the
whole world. He appears there as our intercessor,
as our advocate. And when a child of God sins,
he doesn't lose his salvation. He's forgiven because the advocate,
he doesn't deny that his child has sinned, but he just is there
as our advocate to show that that particular sin, let's just
say it's he told a lie. One of God's children told a
lie. Now, lying is evil, isn't it? And all liars shall have their
part in the lake of fire. And we want to be God's people
are truth tellers. But maybe we, in a time of temptation,
we tell a lie. What happens? We have an advocate
there with the Father. He doesn't deny that that was
a sin. Lying is sinful. Just because
a believer does it, doesn't mean it's not sinful. But what happens? Well, the Lord just shows that
particular sin I paid for. It's already been dealt with.
It's already been paid. He forgives our sins that are
past, our sins that are present, and our sins that are future.
Someone might say, well, that's dangerous to preach that. Well,
no, it's just the truth. It's the truth. In God's people,
we don't serve Him out of fear. We serve Him out of love. And
if we could, we would live in this world without sin. I understand that. That's our
desire. But we know that we do sin. But
when we do, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ,
the righteous, who is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours
only, But for the whole world, there's only one sacrifice in
all the world. No matter where God's people
live, around this world, there's only one sacrifice that serves
as a propitiation for their sins. And that's the one he offered
on Calvary so many years ago. May the Lord bless his word.