Truly, the Lamb is all the glory
in Immanuel's land. Even as the scriptures reveal
unto us in heaven, who is worthy? The answer is, of course, the
Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you will, let's turn now to
Hebrews chapter 10. And tonight we're looking at
verses 11 through 18. Verses 11 through 18. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. 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. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is
a witness to us, for after that he had said before, this is a
covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts, and in their minds will I write them. And their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more. Now, where remission
of these is, there is no more offering for sin. I mentioned last week when we
looked at the first 10 verses in this chapter, that if I had
a favorite chapter in this letter, that it would be this chapter,
the 10th chapter. And I know this is true to me
for many reasons. One reason I believe this is
one of my favorite chapters is because of the truth that we
have just finished reading. For by one offering, he hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. But another reason
that I consider this a favorite chapter is an experience that
I had many, many years ago in Mexico. probably almost 50 years,
maybe over 50 years, I'm not sure. But I was somewhere north
of Mexico City in a city, and we had got permission to have
a service there in the square, and a Roman Catholic priest,
along with some of the young people in his congregation, came
up. And I was able to speak with
him, and of course they were listening, the young people, He probably could have spoken
English better than I could speak Spanish, but I insisted that
we speak in Spanish because I wanted the people who were with him
to hear. And I turned to this passage of scripture, and we
read it, read it together. And I knew that this passage,
this one passage, it completely destroys everything that that
church teaches about the need for the mass. A sacrifice, an unbloody sacrifice
as they call it. No, he has by one sacrifice put
away the sins of his people forever. And I remember he kept telling
me As we were reading, he kept saying, you've got a bad translation.
You've got a bad translation. And at that time, I had a Roman
Catholic Bible. I don't have one anymore. But
I knew what their translation said. A little bit different. The words that they used, a little
bit more old-fashioned words, I believe, than what we are accustomed
to, but it says the very same thing. The very same thing. And I asked him that night, I
said, listen, would you make me this promise? I can't remember
if he agreed or not, but when you go back to your room, will
you read in your Bible this passage of scripture? And since that
day, since that time, I couldn't even find that place again if
my life depended upon it. But I prayed often that night,
and since then, many times I've prayed, thought about that man.
And I have always prayed that he did go back to his apartment
and read this passage of scripture. And God, in mercy, opened his
eyes to the truth. I don't know that. But I like
to think that one day I may meet him in heaven. You know, when
we think about heaven, it's such a wonderful thought and such
a great hope that we have. But one of the blessings of heaven
is going to be with people that we have known here, worshipped
with here, and maybe some that we have preached to, shared the
gospel with. support missionaries. Our church
is always supporting missionaries. From the very first month when
we began as a church to have services, we began sending a
small amount every month to several missionaries. And one of those
missionaries we still support after all these years, over 40
years now. But it's a blessing, isn't it,
to support men who preach the gospel, who preach the truth,
not just going out to do social work. There's a lot of social
work that is done and called missionary work. But missionary
work is preaching the gospel and God calling out his people
and churches being formed from those that he calls out. and
congregations being established, indigenous churches in different
places of the world. And I trust, you know, we need,
really and truthfully, we need, myself and you as a church, we
really need to be serious about praying that God would call other
men and send other men out. in the mission field and the
pastorate, wherever the Lord would have them. But that should
be a priority in our praying, that the Lord would call and
thrust out men into his harvest. Now, looking at these verses
that I've read tonight, I want to show us four things. First of all, This man. And that's the title of the message.
This man. This man of verse 12 contrasted
with the priest in verse 11. Notice in verse 11 it says, And
every priest. And then in verse 12 it said,
But this man. This man. Let's ask or answer
this question. Who are the priests in verse
11? And who is this man in verse
12? Well, the priest intended were
the men who were made priests of that old covenant. Now, you
know, until God gave the covenant at Mount Sinai to Israel, that
the head of the family was a priest. We read about Job in the first
chapter of Job. Remember how he offered sacrifices. Well, a priest is the only one
who's to offer sacrifice. Abel offered a sacrifice. The
priest until Mount Sinai and the Old Covenant was given, every
head of a home was a priest. But with that Old Covenant, God
chose one tribe out of the 12 tribes. He chose the tribe of
Levi. And then out of the tribe of
Levi, He chose one man, one family, and that was Aaron, the brother
of Moses. And from Aaron, then every priest
would come. And you know, when a man was
set apart to be a priest, how old was he? He was 30 years of
age. And he left the office of a priest
in his fifties. I can't remember if it was 50
or 55. It was hard. That was hard work to be a priest.
I mean, there were sacrifices, animals had to be slayed and
burned and, and, and cut so that they could be burned. But he
entered the priesthood at 30 years of age, and the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is this man in this passage of Scripture, the great
high priest, he was about 30 years of age when he came to
John the Baptist who was baptizing people in the River Jordan and
was baptized of John and entered into his public ministry. Now, when those priests of old
were set apart, we know that first of all there was blood.
There had to be blood to sanctify them to this office. There was
blood placed upon their right earlobe. on their right thumb
and on their right toe. And then the anointing oil was
placed upon the blood. And what a picture that was of
a man who was set apart to be a priest that he, first of all,
had to be justified by the blood of Jesus Christ and then, of
course, anointed for the work by God the Holy Spirit. So that's who the priest was,
is that the writer has reference to every priest. He's talking
about those men who were made priests of the family of Aaron. But now this man, this man, we
know of course he's speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ who
was made a priest with an oath. God's oath. Thou art a priest
forever. He's a priest tonight. He's a
priest at the Father's right hand tonight, making intercession
for all who come unto God by Him. He was made a priest with
an oath. This man, if you look back to Hebrews chapter
5, we studied this several weeks ago, but in Hebrews chapter 5, The writer says, for every high
priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining
to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins,
who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are
out of the way, for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought,
as for the people, so also for himself to offer for sins. And
no man taketh this honor unto himself. But he that is called
of God, as was Aaron, so also Christ glorified not himself
to be made in high priest. But he that said unto him, Thou
art my son today, have I begotten thee? As he saith also in another
place, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. This man, so we've got the priest,
those who were priest of the family of Aaron, made priest
by the old covenant. And this man, who was made a
priest by the oath of God, And this man, let me remind us of
this, about this man, as the Apostle Paul in Philippians says,
who, speaking of Christ, who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation
and took upon himself the form of a servant. and was made in
the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. How is it that one sacrifice,
the sacrifice of one man, could atone for the sins of men and
women all of these days and all of these ages. How is that possible
that His blood, because of who He is, right? Because He is God
who became flesh. The incarnation, we're coming
up on the season of Christmas in just a few weeks. And a lot
of people will be talking about the birth of Christ, And that's
good. I just pray that more and more
people would recognize who it was who was born. That he is
God who came into this world. The miracle of the incarnation
has to be the most marvelous thing. the greatest event that
this world has ever known, that God in the flesh came into his
world. And it's a mystery, isn't it?
It's a mystery. But notice now the contrast here,
three contrasts here in these two verses between those priests
and this man. First of all, The priest offered
many or often offered sacrifices. Notice that's what we read here
in our text. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
11. And every priest and at daily
ministering and offering, notice, oftentimes, the priest, the priest,
they offered oftentimes, many times, time after time. What a contrast with this man
who offered one sacrifice, one sacrifice. A second contrast,
the priest offered sacrifices which could never take away sin. This man offered one sacrifice
that did take away sin, that put away sin. And number three,
this contrast, the priest stood offering their sacrifices. They stood. They were in an upright
position like I'm in right now. They stood. Man brought an animal
to them or they had an animal given to them and they were standing. killed the priest in a standing
position, and all the work they did, they were standing, always
standing. What a contrast with the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is sitting, sitting. And it's been pointed
out many times, but let me mention it once again. There was never
a chair, a couch, a lounge. There was never any place for
any priest to sit down in the confines of the tabernacle, either
in the courtyard or in the holy place, and certainly not in the
most holy place. But the Lord Jesus Christ, he
is seated, and this declares, the very fact that he is seated
tonight, declares unto us that the work was finished. The work
was finished. It never would need to be repeated
again. All right, here's the second
thing. This man, so first of all, this man contrasted with
the priest. Second, this man expecting seated
at God's right hand. Verse 13, from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool. The fact that the
Lord Jesus Christ is seated reveals that His work is finished, but
we also are told that there is going to be a final victory. The final victory, the final
victory will be when all His enemies are made His footstool. This is what the verse says,
from henceforth expecting. He's already won the battle.
He's already defeated the foes. There's no question about that.
And now he is seated, expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. And I say again, all his enemies
are defeated enemies. They've all been defeated, but
listen, they're active. They're defeated, but they are
active. And let's remember this tonight,
that his enemies are the enemies of his church. His enemies are
the enemies of his people. Well, let me mention two of these
enemies. All rebellious men are his enemies. And because they cannot get to
him, all lost men, or rebellious man, or his enemies, and because
man cannot get to him, he's seated in the heavens at the Father's
right hand, then lost men take their hatred and vileness out
upon his body, that is the church. And his church has known the
wrath of his enemies. We're all familiar with the words
of the second Psalm. Why do the heathen rage? You
say, well, that's back. No, that's not back there. Yes,
it was back there, but it's today too. It's never stopped. The heathen rage. The people
imagine a vain thing. Why? Why would they do that?
Do not they realize they're fighting against God and his Christ? Yes, they're deceived. Why do
the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings
of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together. I think about the Caesars, the
various Caesars, who one of them, remember when he died, confessed
that Jesus, he called the Nazarene, had won the victory. He was defeated. He had done
his best. while he was upon the throne,
while he was ruling in Rome. He had done his best to stamp
out Christ and the name of Christ and his followers. But in death,
he had to admit, and he did, that Christ had won the victory.
Yes, he won the victory. He won the victory at Calvary.
But these enemies, they continue, and if they can't get at Christ,
this is what I'm saying, they cannot get at Him, so they take
their anger, their wrath, their hatred out upon His people, upon
His church. The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
His anointing, saying, let us break their bands asunder. and
cast away their cards. Man, why is it, do you suppose,
that this teaching of evolution, why do you suppose that's in
the world? Because of God's enemies, that's why. Man does not want
to admit and confess and acknowledge God. He wants to be a God himself. Turn with me to Acts chapter
4. Early on in the book of Acts, you know, the wrath of the religious
rulers was brought against the church. Who stirred them up? Who stirred them up to take out
their anger against Peter and John? All they did was Peter
said, silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give unto
thee, rise and walk. And that man jumped up and started
running and shouting and praising God. And when they all came together,
Peter said, and I'm paraphrasing, why are you looking at us as
though we did this? No, it was done in the name and
the power of Jesus Christ. But here in Acts chapter 4, when
they were set free, verse 23, it says, And being let go, that
is Peter and John, being let go, they went to their own company,
and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto
them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to
God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou God, which hast made
heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is, who
by the mouth of thy servant David hath said, Why did the heathen
rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the
earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against
the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together,
now notice, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. We see that the church acknowledged
the sovereignty of God in everything. in their suffering, in their
persecution, didn't mean God was not still in control. No,
they acknowledged that everything was done according to God's sovereign
purpose. After all these centuries, after
all these centuries, Here we are tonight, and his enemies
are still here. They're still here, but listen,
so is his church. So is his church. Upon this rock,
I will build my church, and the gates of hell, the gates of hell,
always coming against it, the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. Yes. So the first enemy, the scripture
says he's expecting till all his enemies are made his footstool,
that's going to take place. All wicked men, evil men, lost
men, but also Satan, the devil. He's certainly one of the Lord's
and his church's enemies. Now he too was defeated at the
cross, but we know he's active. was a Peter who said, Satan goeth
about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. One of the most important things
for you and I, for those of us who are members of his body,
his church, to recognize is the battle. Yes, we're in a battle,
but the battle is spiritual. The battle is spiritual. And the weapons, and they're
weapons of offense, and they're weapons of defense. And we're
told about them all. Weapons of offense, what is it?
The gospel. The gospel preached in the power
of God the Holy Spirit. That's still the weapon, the
spiritual weapon that God uses in calling out his people, capturing
sinners. Look with me in 2 Corinthians
10. We live in a day when the church,
you see it all the time all around us, they're trying to use the
things of this world to win the battle. You can't win the battle
against Satan using weapons that are not spiritual. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verses 3 through 5. For though
we walk in the flesh, and we do, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds,
casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ. Our weapons are not
carnal, they are spiritual. And the same thing is true of
defensive weapons when you read Ephesians chapter six and see
the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, and
so forth there. All right, back to our text tonight.
So first of all, This man, contrasted with every
priest, and this man expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool, and it's going to happen. There's no doubt about
it. God hath appointed a day in the
which he will judge the world by that man, Jesus Christ, whom
he raised from the dead. It's going to happen. Battle's
already already won, the victory's already assured. But notice the
third thing, this man, this man, in verse 14, perfected all the
sanctified. For by one offering, he, who? This man, the God-man, he hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. You know the word
perfection means completeness, completeness. We know, I've mentioned
two enemies, but we know there's one enemy that's called the last
enemy. The last enemy. The last enemy. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
15. The last enemy. You say, what is that? Death.
Death. First Corinthians 15 in verse
24. Then cometh the end, when he
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when
he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power,
for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. What did we say? Expecting till
all his enemies be made his footstool. Notice the next verse. The last
enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Perfection. He hath perfected forever. Perfection
means completeness. And by his one offering for sin,
all of his people will live in perfection. We will live eternally,
now here's the point, both in soul and in body. At present, you and I, at present,
tonight, in this world, we have, if we know Christ as our Lord
and Savior, we have eternally saved souls. Our souls are saved,
but this perfection also includes the completeness of a person,
his body, his body as well. And one day, we too shall be
saved completely, soul and body. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall
see Him as He is. And I believe that next verse
says, and every man that hath this hope purifieth himself even
as he is pure. That's our hope, isn't it? That's
my hope that one day we'll see Christ, and not only see Him,
not only be with Him, but be like Him, body and soul, glorified
body. All right, here's the last thing
in closing, fourth, This man, this man of this passage of Scripture,
he ushered in the New Covenant with all its blessings. He said,
this is my blood of the New Testament or the New Covenant. And all
the blessings of the New Covenant come to us freely because of
him. I will put my laws into their
hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more. All the promises are
yea and amen in him. All the blessings of the covenant,
he is the covenant actually. He's the mediator of the covenant,
he's the surety of the covenant, he's the messenger of the covenant,
he's the ratifier of the covenant, He is the covenant. Because of
Christ and His work, all these benefits, all these blessings,
they all are ours. Those of us who know Him, tonight
is our Lord and our Savior. I pray the Lord would bless this
word to all of us here tonight. Aren't you thankful for this
man, this God man? Oh my, what a wonderful truth. that Christ is both God and man,
and that he satisfied God for the sins of his people. They're
put away. God will never remember them
again, against his people. Now, Brother Bill, if you will
come and lead us in a hymn.