Let us turn in our Bibles tonight
to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, beginning
in verse 1 through verse 10. having a shadow of good things
to come, and not the very image of the things can ever, with
those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually, make
the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered, because that the worshipers once purged
should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices
there is a remembrance, again made of sins every year. For
it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should
take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come. In the volume of the book, it
is written of me, to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said sacrifice
and offering and burn offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldest
not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law. Then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. I believe that if I had a favorite
chapter in this letter of Hebrews, it would be this chapter. And tonight, as we look at these
first 10 verses, I want to divide the message into two parts. First,
we read again, we read again what we were told earlier in
this letter. First, the law, the old covenant,
served as a shadow. Notice that in the very first
line, for the law having a shadow. Now, as I said, we read again
what we were told earlier in this letter. We have been told
earlier. If you look back to chapter eight
and verse five, we read, who serve unto the example and shadow. There it is. We've been told
earlier about the law serving as a shadow. And then second,
if you look back to chapter 10 in verse 1 again, it, that is
the old covenant, served as a shadow of good things to come. And look
back now, if you will, to chapter 9 in verse 11, but Christ being
come and high priest of good things to come. And then, again
in verse one, the last part of verse one of chapter 10, yet
that is the old covenant with its sacrifices could not make
the worshipers perfect. And you look back to chapter
nine and verse nine, which was a figure for the time then present
in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not
make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the
conscience. The writer was not afraid of
repeating himself, for he knew that repetition, as we've all
heard, is the best teacher. If you look back with me to Philippians
chapter three and verse one, The words of the Apostle Paul
on this same subject of repetition, chapter three and verse one,
he said, finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, to write
the same thing, same things, to write the same things to you.
To me, indeed, is not grievous, but for you, it is safe. Many eras. Many eras have been
preached because some preacher wanted to say something new.
Because some preacher found it grievous to repeat himself. And so he has come up with something
new, something novel, something different, and usually it is
to call attention to himself. But the man of God, the man that
God calls to preach, He doesn't need to be afraid of repetition,
because as I said, and this is not from the Word of God, but
we know it is so, repetition is still the best teacher. The Gospel doesn't change. Men
want to improve upon it, or they want to make it, as they say,
relevant. What an awful word to use concerning
the Word of God. as though God's Word is not always
relevant. It's always relevant. Why? Because
it's God's Word, and it's God's Word to men and women. No matter in what age we live,
what age we come into this world, God's Word is always relevant
to us. And for a preacher to stand up
and say, I'm going to make this relevant, God's Word is always
relevant. And God's Word, my friend, doesn't
change because it is like God Himself. God doesn't change,
man doesn't change, and man's need doesn't change. In preaching
the Gospel, we are preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ. That's what the Apostle Paul
says in the letter of Ephesians. The unsearchable, unsearchable
riches of Christ. We want the word, the message
to be fresh, but the message is the same. It's still the old,
old story. The old, old story that men need
to hear. If you look back to Hebrews 10
again now, the truth that is presented to us by the writer's
use of this word shadow, a shadow. Now we recognize what causes
there to be a shadow. There has to be something real. There has to be something firm,
something real, a body that the light shines upon to cast a shadow. The shadow is unreal. The shadow is gone once the body
is removed. The new covenant in Christ's
blood is real. It's real. It's that everlasting
covenant that was ratified by the blood, by the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's real. And its shadow, its
shadow of that which is real was the old covenant, the old
covenant. One writer said, the Mosaic shadow
covenant only existed because the new substance covenant was
already in place, though not made known until the appointed
time. In other words, there would have
never been a shadow, a shadow covenant as the writer here refers
to that Old Covenant, as a shadow of good things to come. There
never would have been a shadow had there not first been the
real, the substance, in order for there to be a shadow. Now, this being the case, then
the sacrifices of the Old Covenant could not make the worshipers
or the comers thereunto perfect. If you look back to chapter 7
and verse 19, again we read chapter 7 and verse
19, for the law made nothing perfect. Cannot be any clearer
than that, can it? The law made nothing perfect. But the bringing in of a better
hope did. That better hope, of course,
is the gospel. That's Christ, the new covenant.
Better hope did by the which we draw nigh or near unto God. The writer here in chapter 10
points out that If they had, if those animal sacrifices, if
the blood of bulls and goats. Now, when he uses those two terms,
we know he's speaking especially, as he has before, about the great
day of atonement. There were lambs sacrificed every
day, but he uses the two animals that were sacrificed and whose
blood was carried into the most holy place. As far as the Word
of God tells us, lamb's blood was never taken in to the Most
Holy Place unless the word for those two goats should be lambs,
and some believe that it should. But otherwise, it was only the
blood of bulls, first of all, bullocks, that was taken into
the Most Holy Place to atone for the high priest for his sins. And then it was the blood, of
course, of the goat that was the Lord's goat that was slain,
and his blood was taken into the most holy place. But the
writer here tells us, if they had made the worshipers perfect,
if that blood, the blood of those animals, had made the worshipers
perfect, then, and here's the question, would they not have
ceased to be offered? Would they not have ceased to
be offered? Of course, sure. The fact that the animal sacrifices
continued to be offered indicated that there needed to be an atonement. There needed to be an atonement
which would take away all sin. The repetition of those animal
sacrifices, it pointed out that they could not take away sin
by the repetition And it also indicated and pointed out that
there needed to be an atonement that cleanses from all sin. Say, the blood on the great day
of atonement that was taken in. Suppose that blood had atoned,
actually atoned for the sins of the Israelites for the past
year. But what about this year? There
needed to be an atonement that would cleanse from all sin. And when I say all sin, I mean
past sins, present sins, and future sins. All sins. There needed to be, and this
is what the repetition told, indicated, testified to, there
needed to be an atonement that would cleanse from all sin, past,
present, and future sins. And so the Apostle John, in his
first letter, tells us, the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth
us from past sins, present sins, future sins, yes, all sin. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. These repeated offerings and
sacrifices could not take away the conscience of sin. Notice
that in verse two. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered? Because that the worshipers once
purged should have had no more conscience of sins. Now, let's
be careful that we understand what this is not saying. This
is not saying that once a person is saved, he will never again
have any conscience of sin. You know that's not true. You
know that's not true by your experience. In fact, since you've
been saved, you probably have, you've been made more aware of
sin than you ever were in your lost condition. Sin becomes more
obnoxious to you, and you become more aware of your own sin as
you grow in grace. And that just stands to reason,
right? Not because necessarily you have more sin, but you have
more light. It's just like the illustration
we've used many times in this room right now. You know there's
all kinds of particles of dust that we can't see, but you let
that light shine just right, and you see this room, we're
breathing dust. We're breathing particles that's
in the air, right? But we don't see it, why? Because
the light is just not exact. As you are brought into the light
as a person is saved, He has more light, and as we grow in
grace and knowledge, we become more aware of our sin. But here's
the difference. When those animal sacrifices
were offered, men, they couldn't find any relief. They knew they
had sinned, but they could not find any relief because they
knew that the blood of an animal, that cannot take away sin. Yes,
now, when we sin, and our conscience, unless it's seared, and some
people do have a conscience that's seared, but not any believer,
but even a believer's conscience can become hardened. But now,
when a believer sins, his conscience smites him. But what does he
do? He looks to Christ. He looks
to the blood of the lamb that was slain to put away sin, and
his conscience then receives a soothing. As John said, if
we say we have no sin, and that's what some people might understand
this is saying, that if a person is truly washed in the blood
of Christ, he'll have no more conscience of sin. But John said,
if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth
is not in us. So what do we do if we confess
our sins? That's what we do, isn't it?
When our conscience smites us, what do we do? We confess our
sins. And we confess our sins knowing
that He is faithful and just because of the sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ. His justice is satisfied. He's faithful and just in forgiving
us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. looking to Christ and His blood,
then sin doesn't remain on our conscience. Seeing that animal
sacrifices could not take away sins, we see that in verse 4,
but it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should
take away sins. What was their purpose? What
was their purpose? What was God's purpose in giving
that old law that required animal sacrifices? There was enough
animal sacrifice, no doubt, to fill a lake with blood, blood
of animals. What was the purpose? The purpose
is twofold. First of all, they served as
types, as types of the Lord Jesus Christ and Him shedding His blood. He being that one sacrifice that
does put away sins. And secondly, they, along with
the moral law, showed men their need. The very fact that they
had to bring an animal, an innocent animal, had to die in their stead
taught them their need. Look with me in Galatians just
a moment. Galatians chapter 3. And I don't know if we think
about this as we should. We think about the moral part
of the law. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt
not steal, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God
in vain, thou shalt not have any other gods before me. Think
of those moral commandments, and we say, well, that shows
us our need. It does. It does. But also, the
ceremonial part of the law shows us our need. When we say that
it was necessary that animals and innocent victims die, that
shows us our need as well. And we read that here in Galatians
chapter 3, verse 19, when he said, Wherefore then serveth
the law? It certainly wasn't given for
man to obtain salvation by its observance. It was never given
for that reason. Wherefore then serveth the law?
And that's the reason it's so sad when you hear people say,
well, I'm just living by the Ten Commandments. so deceived
and so much on their way to hell, believing that somehow they can
keep the Ten Commandments. Wherefore then serveth the law? Well, it was added because of
transgression, till the seed, now who's the seed? The promised
seed. in thy seed shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed. It was added because of transgression
till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. And
it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now,
a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the
law then against the promises of God? Remember, God gave the
promise to Abraham 430 years before the law was given on Mount
Sinai. Is the law then against the promise
of God? God forbid. Perish the thought. For if there had been a law given
which could have given life, rarely righteousness should have
been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ, that
is the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, might be given to them
that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up under the faith which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ. That, in order that, we might
be justified by faith. But, after faith is come, we're
no longer under schoolmaster. For you are all the children
of God. by faith in Christ Jesus. So the law served as our schoolmaster,
both the moral requirements and the ceremonial part. Both showed
us our need of the Savior. The sacrifices which were part
of the law that Old Covenant showed us our need of Christ,
as well as the moral commandments. The blood of those animals, victims,
could not take away sins. We needed the sacrifice of one
whose blood could and did take away sin. The blood of Christ. All right, second. So first,
we read again what we've been told earlier in this letter.
Now second, we read what we are told earlier in the Bible in
verses 5 through 10 because the writer quotes from Psalm 40. Look back with me to Psalm 40. Psalm 40, verses 6 through 8. Sacrifice and offering thou didst
not desire, mine ears hast thou opened, burnt offering and sin
offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come, and
the volume of the book it is written of me. I delight to do
thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. Now back here in Hebrews 10,
beginning in verse 5, wherefore when he cometh into the world,
he saith, sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not. Isn't that
what we just read in Psalm 40? Of course it is. Offering thou
wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared made. in burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come in the
volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God.
Above when he said sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings
and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein
which are offered by the law. Then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. he taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second, by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. If we look
at what we have read in both places, first we see he cometh
into the world. He, that is the eternal Son of
God, he cometh into the world. And how did he come into the
world? He did so by clothing himself with the body that thou
hast prepared him. When you think of that word prepared,
the body thou prepared him, the preparation involved the incarnation. The incarnation, he was made
in the likeness of man. Next, the preparation is he had
to be a perfect man, a sinless man. He's found in fashion as
a man, and then his obedience unto death. As a sheep before
its shears is silent, so he opened not his mouth. So he, the eternal
Son of God, he cometh into the world. Second, he put an end
to the sacrifices and offerings of the law. This is what is meant
by this phrase, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not. God,
what this is saying is God would not have these continue any longer. These sacrifices and offerings
that were ordained and commanded under the law, they came to an
end. God would not have those to continue. God would not have these continue
any longer. They had served their purpose,
that is, as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. Those animal sacrifices we know
never satisfied the justice of God, and no one was ever accepted
because of the blood of those animals, for the sake of those
animals. And third, he came to do the
will of God. We see this in both verse seven
and verse nine. In the volume of the book, it
is written of me. The Old Testament was written
of him. to reveal Him. Remember He told
some when He was here in the flesh, search the Scriptures,
for they are they which testify of Me. Have you ever thought,
and I encourage you maybe to do so sometime, think of what
it would be like without the Old Testament. If we just had
the New Testament, we begin in Matthew chapter one and verse
one and read about the birth of this man called Jesus. But
we don't have anything that we know as the Old Testament. The
Old Testament serves as a pattern, doesn't it? I remember hearing
a man try to illustrate this one time by using a well-known
story, a story of Cinderella. You remember when she left the
ball, she had to leave before the clock struck 12, and she
left one of her slippers. She lost one of her slippers.
And the prince was so in love with her that he searched through
all the kingdom to find the right one that that slipper would fit.
And finally he found Cinderella. It just fit her. And the Old
Testament is like that slipper, isn't it? The only one it fits
is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's just like a glove that's
made for a hand, and the hand, the Lord Jesus Christ, he just
perfectly fits into the glove. And all of the types, and all
of the pictures, all of the shadows, they all testify of him. He came to do the will of the
Father. what was prophesied of him doing,
that is, what was foretold in that pattern in that Old Testament,
what was prophesied of him doing, we know as the will of God, it
had to have been then prepared of old. If it was prophesied
of old that he would do these things, then It had to have been
prepared of old that he would do these things. Some people
read the account of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and
they think, oh, you know, that looks so accidental, his death. Oh no, everything was purposed
and planned from before the foundation of the world. And that's the
reason that the Apostle Peter could tell them by the determinate
counsel, the counsel, God's wisdom, the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God, he was crucified. It was God's will that he should
suffer and die. The death of Christ was God's
eternally, not just happenstance, but eternally ordained means
for the salvation of His elect. His elect whose names were written
in the Lamb's Book of Life from the foundation of the world.
And number four, He took away the first. Notice that that's
what it says in verse nine. He took away the first. that
he might establish the second. Now the first covenant's called
first because it was revealed first. What we would call the
second, the new covenant, actually was first because it was in eternity
ordained of God. But the old covenant was revealed
first. He'd taken away the first and
establishes the second. Now that we know, speaking of
these two covenants, the old and the new, and listen, they
cannot co-exist. They can't. That's what the writer
is saying, they cannot co-exist. I've told you before, several
years ago, I met some people that profess to be Christians,
profess to be believers, but they are practicing those Old
Testament shadows and types, and they've got a certain name.
I don't remember what it is now, but all that came to an end.
That's over and done. And if we thought, well, you
know, let's just observe the Passover here. That'd be an affront
to God. No, the Passover served its purpose,
but it came to an end. That old covenant came to an
end, my friends. They cannot coexist with the
new covenant. And notice the last thing, he
sanctified his people by his one sacrifice. And we read the
word sanctified is in the perfect tense, which indicates a completed
work. He sanctified his people. a completed work, and it's also
in the passive voice which indicates that it is a work of God and
not of man. The believer's sanctification
is not so much a thing that we as believers are to strive after
and strive towards as it is an accomplished work, accomplished
by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, a work of grace by which
we are obligated to live out, but not in order to be sanctified. I pray that the Lord would bless
this word to all of us here this evening. Brother Bill, if you will, come
and lead us in a verse of a hymn.