once again be Hebrews chapter
10 and verse 1. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
1. For the law, let's remember the
law as we read in John chapter 1, the law was given through
or by Moses. That law was a covenant. that God made with the nation
of Israel at Mount Sinai. But grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. We might say the law, that covenant
of works, was given through Moses, but the covenant of grace, the
everlasting covenant, was given through Jesus Christ coming into
this world. He's the mediator of the covenant.
He's the messenger of the covenant. He's the surety of the covenant.
In fact, there's a verse in Isaiah that tells us he is the covenant. God said, I will give thee to
be a covenant. It's all included in him. And of course he came into this
world and he sealed that covenant with his own blood. He said,
this is my blood of the everlasting covenant, which is shed for many
for the remission of sins. For the law, having a shadow,
of good things to come and not the very image of the things. For the last two Wednesdays,
we have looked at two of the many good things that the law
shadowed that was to come. First, we looked at how that
the law shadowed through the tabernacle the good thing of
the coming of God to dwell among men. The word was made flesh. And last time, we looked at how
the law of the Sabbath shadowed forth the good thing of the coming
true rest that the Lord Jesus Christ gives unto his people. Tonight, We will see how that
the law shadowed forth this good thing, that is the true liberty
from bondage. I want us to look at several
passages of scripture. Well, let's begin first in Leviticus
chapter 25. Leviticus chapter 25. Last week when we looked at the
law, how that the Sabbath of the law, remember it was incorporated
into the law, it was given, and I pointed that out, it was given
to the nation of Israel before the covenant was given on Mount
Sinai. It was actually given when the
Lord gave them manna to eat. And so when we read, remember,
the Sabbath day and the giving of the law, they remembered that
just before this, the Lord had given this law of the Sabbath. But we saw in that seventh day
Sabbath, every week there was a Sabbath, but I mentioned also
in passing that there were years which were Sabbaths as well.
Every seven years there was a Sabbath. The land rested for the entire
year. And then every 50 years, after
the 49th year, the seventh year, there was another Sabbath. Actually, there was three years
in which the Lord did not allow them to plant. The land had to
rest. And among other things, if nothing
else, that was to teach them that He would supply their needs. And that's something we all need
to hear, isn't it? That's something we all need
to be reminded of as we go through this world, through this wilderness.
God has promised to meet the needs of his children. And when
God gives a promise, He's able, first of all, a promise is just
as good as the ability of the man or the person who gives the
promise. And not only is He able to fulfill
His promise, but He's faithful. He's faithful to fulfill His
promises. But if you will, here in Leviticus
chapter 25, if you notice in verse 4, we read about that seventh
year Sabbath. But in the seventh year shall
be a Sabbath of rest unto the land, a Sabbath for the Lord. Thou shalt neither sow thy field
nor prune thy vineyard. Now, that was the seventh year
Sabbath, but if you will, beginning in verse eight, let's look at
this Jubilee Sabbath, beginning with
verse eight. And thou shalt number seven sabbaths
of years unto thee, seven times seven years, and the space of
the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet
of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month,
In the day of atonement shall you make the trumpet sound throughout
all your land, and you shall hallow the 50th year and proclaim
liberty, liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants
thereof. It shall be a jubilee unto you,
and you shall return every man unto his possession, and you
shall return every man unto his family. Now I want to point two
things out from these verses that we've read about this year
of Jubilee. First of all, you notice it commenced
on the Day of Atonement. The year of Jubilee commenced
on the Day of Atonement. Now keep your place here, but
turn back just a few pages to Leviticus chapter 16, and let's
just, for a moment, think about the Day of Atonement. We'll just read the one verse
here in Leviticus chapter 16 and verse 17. And there shall
be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he, that
is Aaron the priest, the high priest, goeth in to make an atonement
in the holy place until he come out and have made an atonement
for himself and for his household and for all the congregation
of Israel. So only the high priest went
into the most holy place on the day of atonement. The only day
in the year that anyone went into that holy of holies. The
high priest went in there. And as the apostle in Hebrews
tells us, but not without blood. Not without blood. He dare not
enter into that holy of holies without blood. That blood, of
course, pictured the blood of Jesus Christ, but we'll get to
that in another study, God willing. But when he came out after he
had made atonement for the congregation, then, remember the lot that fell
on the goat that was to be the scapegoat, he would lay his hands
on the head of that goat and confess all the iniquities of
the congregation of Israel on the head. That pictured a transference
of the sins of the nation of Israel to that goat, the scapegoat,
and then that goat was led into a land never to be seen again. Now, it took those two goats
to picture the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ, didn't
it? His substitutionary death by the death of the first goat,
and then His bearing our sins, taking them away, removing them
by that scapegoat. Now this took place, as we see
here, on the 10th day of the 7th month. Now this is the day
that the year of Jubilee would begin, on the Day of Atonement. Actually, it must have begun
in the 49th year because it was on the Day of Atonement, which
was the 10th day, or the 10th month, rather, of the year. But it would go, 10th day, rather,
of the 7th month. You see that in verse 29 of Leviticus 16. And this shall
be a statute forever unto you, that in the 7th month on the
10th day of the month you shall afflict your souls and do no
work at all, whether it be of your own country or a stranger
that sojourneth among you. This was a Sabbath. day in which
they could do no work. Now go back to Leviticus 25.
I said there are two things I want to point out about this day.
First of all, it commenced, this year of Jubilee, it commenced
on the Day of Atonement. the tenth day of the seventh
month. This was the day that the year
of Jubilee began, and it was a year of liberation, of liberty. The second thing I want to point
out from this passage of Scripture is this was a day that was announced
by the trumpet sound. If you look in chapter 25 again,
verse 9, Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to
sound on the tenth day of the seventh month. So it commenced
on the Day of Atonement, and it was announced by the sound
of the trumpet. Now, when I read about this,
the sound of a trumpet, I cannot help but wonder what kind of
trumpet it was. Different trumpets make different
sounds. And from what I could find in
reading and studying, no one is for sure if it was a silver
trumpet, because God commanded Moses in Numbers to make two
silver trumpets, or if it was a trumpet made from a ram's horn. But either way, if it was a trumpet
made of silver that announced, this reminds us of redemption. Silver does. It reminds us of
redemption. Because every first born, of
animal and man, every firstborn had to be redeemed. It had to
be redeemed. God claimed every firstborn as
His. Remember, He spared the firstborn
when He passed over Egypt, where the blood was applied. And so
God claimed the firstborn of every animal and every man as
His. And if it was an unclean animal,
If you would not redeem it, if a man would not redeem it, and
the example is of an ass, if a man would not redeem the firstborn
of an ass, then he had to break the neck of that firstborn. But if he redeemed it, It was
like the redemption price for a man, five shekels. Five shekels according to the
sanctuary, and those shekels were made of silver. So if it
was the silver trumpets that were blown, that reminds us of
redemption, of redemption by the blood of Jesus Christ. If
it was a ram's horns, That reminds me of the preaching of the gospel. Because when Joshua was commanded
to march around Jericho, remember, and blow the trumpets, and then
on that seventh day, blow them seven times, and the walls came
down flat. What a picture. of God using
the gospel, the preaching of the gospel, the Holy Spirit working
with the gospel and calling out His redeemed, His chosen people. Now, so we've learned here there's
a year of jubilee. Commenced on the Day of Atonement.
It was announced by the sound of the trumpet. Now I want you
to look at a prophecy in Isaiah chapter 61. Let's just take the time to look at
these verses if you want to turn. Isaiah chapter 61. This is a
prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it was given through Isaiah
600 years, I believe it was, before the Lord Jesus Christ
came into this world as a man. The prophecy goes, the spirit
of the Lord God is upon me. Because the Lord hath anointed
me to preach good tidings unto the meek, he has sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty. Liberty, that's what
the year of Jubilee was. It was a year of liberation,
of liberty, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort
all that mourn. to appoint unto them that morning's
eye, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
morning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,
that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting
of the Lord, that He might be glorified. When God saves a sinner, he gives
him beauty for ashes. First comes the ashes. First
comes the repentance. First comes the mourning over
our sin. But then comes the beauty. Then
comes the garment of praise. First, the spirit of heaviness.
What a picture we have here of God's way of saving sinners. Always bringing, first of all,
The need. A man, a woman has to be convinced
they have a need. No one ever cried unto the Lord
for mercy until a person realized, I have a need. And my need is
that I'm a sinner. Until God convinces us of that. And that's His work. I can't
convince anyone of that, and neither can you. We can tell
people, But when God the Holy Spirit, when He does the work,
He convinces men of sin, and of judgment, and of righteousness. So here's the prophecy here in
Isaiah 61. Now let's look at the fulfillment
of this prophecy. Turn with me to Luke. Luke chapter
4. What we find here in Luke chapter
4 is the Lord Jesus Christ, after He had been baptized after he
had been in the wilderness tempted of Satan for forty days that
he returned to the town Nazareth where he had lived his teenage
years, his young adult years. Do you remember, I think it was
Nathaniel, what he said when Philip found Nathaniel? And he
said, we found him. That is the Christ, Jesus of
Nazareth. And Nathaniel said, can any good
thing come out of Nazareth? It must have had a bad reputation,
people of Nazareth. But the Lord Jesus Christ, he
was raised there as a young boy, young man. And now he's been
baptized. He begins his public ministry. The spirit of God has come upon
him in the form of a dove. God has announced, this is my
beloved son. Hear ye him, my beloved son,
in whom I am well pleased. And he returns to Nazareth. Now they had heard about him.
And so we read here in verse 16 of chapter 4 of Luke, it says,
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as
his custom was. And my friends, this is a good
custom. You say, what is it? He attended the place of worship
on the Sabbath day, yes, according to the law. But it was his custom. That tells me this was the custom
of Mary and of Joseph. This was their custom. They took
their family to the place, the synagogues. The synagogues were
not a temple. The synagogues came into being
during the inner testament period. The 400 years from Malachi to
the beginning of the the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the birth of
Christ. These synagogues sprang up in
various places, and they were places where the Jews came on
the Sabbath to read the Scripture and to pray. It was a place we
would call a place of worship. And this was His custom, the
Scripture says. If you'd gone to Nazareth on
a Sabbath day, and you wanted to find Jesus of Nazareth, where
would you look for him? In a synagogue. It's like if
you wanted to find some of you on Sunday morning at 10 a.m.,
where would you look for him or her? Lincolnwood Baptist Church. Your neighbors, they know that.
As his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath
day and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto
him the book of the prophet Esaias, or Isaiah. And when he had opened
the book, he found the place, the place we just read, Isaiah
61, as it has been divided into chapters and verses. He opened
the book. He found the place where it was
written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor, He has sent me to heal
the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty, to
set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord. So the prophecy was given and
now he takes the scripture and he says, this day Is this scripture
fulfilled in your ears? Notice that in verse 21. Well,
let's read 20 also. And he closed the book and he
gave it again to the minister and sat down. The eyes of all
them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he
began to say unto them, This day, is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears? It can not be any question, any
doubt, The prophecy was given, the prophecy was fulfilled. As
our Lord said, this day is the prophecy fulfilled in your ears. Now the prophecy concerned liberty,
liberty to them that are bruised. I have three areas that I want
to mention tonight. where the Lord Jesus Christ gives
liberty. First, liberty from the bondage
of the guilt of sin. Liberty from the bondage of the
guilt of sin. Turn again to John this time,
John chapter eight. A person that needs liberty is
a person who is in bondage. In John chapter 8, beginning
with verse 31, we read, Then said Jesus to those Jews which
believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples
indeed. And you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free. That's what liberty is.
It's freedom. You shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. They answered him. There were
some Jews there who did not believe, of course. They answered him,
we be Abraham's seed, and we're never in bondage. Don't talk
to us about liberty. We've never been in bondage.
Don't talk to us about needing to be liberated. Only those who
are captives, only those who are in bondage need liberty. And here you are speaking about
liberty? Well, we're Abraham's children.
We've never been in bondage to any man. Well, that was a lie
to begin with. They were in bondage at that
time. The Romans controlled the nation
of Israel. But look on. Jesus answered them. Now the
Lord's going to prove to them, you are in bondage. You don't
know it. You may not recognize it and
you may not accept it, but you are in bondage. How does he show
this? Verse 34, Jesus answered them,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committed sin is the
servant of sin. Now that word servant that is
translated here is a word that's also translated slave. Slaves
are in bondage. Slaves need liberty. And this
is what the Lord Jesus Christ said unto them, whosoever committeth
sin is the servant, is the slave of sin. Is there anyone, anyone anywhere
who has not committed sin? Of course not. As the scripture
says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Sullivan
said, there's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good
and sinneth not. The Lord Jesus Christ said, if
you commit sin, then you are a slave, a servant of sin. A slave, as I said, is in bondage,
bondage to sin. And notice, the only one who
can make a slave free is Christ, the Son. This is what he said. Whosoever committeth sin is a
servant of sin, and the servant abideth not in the house forever,
But the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make
you free, you shall be free indeed. You shall be free, you shall
have liberty. If the Son shall make you free,
you shall have liberty from the bondage, the guilt of sin. The blood that the high priest
carried into the most holy place on the day of atonement, as I
said a few minutes ago, was typical of our Lord's blood. If the son
shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. And how is it
that he makes a person free? By the shedding of his blood. The scripture says without the
shedding of blood, there is no remission. In Romans, the apostle
Paul said, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It is God that justifies. How are sinners given liberty?
How are sinners freed from the guilt of sin? Being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. whom God set forth to be the
propitiation, be a propitiation, that is a satisfactory payment
for sin by his blood through faith. You know, the Lord Jesus
Christ is the shepherd, isn't he? We all recognize that. David
said, the Lord is my shepherd. We know that speaking of Christ.
In the New Testament, he's called, first of all, the good shepherd.
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth His
life for the sheep. The Lord Jesus Christ liberates
His sheep from the penalty of sin by dying in their stead. Then we read that He is the Great
Shepherd in Hebrews chapter 13. It is as the Great Shepherd that
He's been brought from the dead, that He gives us strength to
overcome sin. He saves us from the penalty
of sin as the Good Shepherd. He saves us from the power of
sin as the Great Shepherd. And then we read that He's the
Chief Shepherd. And that speaks of when He comes
again. And as the Chief Shepherd, when
He comes again, He's going to save His people from the presence
of sin. from the penalty of sin by His
blood, from the power of sin by His resurrected life, Christ
living in us, and from the presence of sin by His coming again to
take us, to receive us unto Himself. Now the second area of bondage
that I want to speak to us about is the bondage Liberty from the
bondage of the fear of death. The fear of death. And we find
this in Hebrews chapter 2. In Hebrews chapter 2 and verse
15. And deliver them. That is, give
liberty to them. Deliver them who through fear
of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. The fear
of death is a tormenting bondage. The truth in the Lord Jesus gives
us liberty from this bondage. He declared, I am the resurrection
and the life. Many people think of the resurrection
as a doctrine, as a teaching, but let's remember Christ, He
is the resurrection. Just as many people think of
eternal life as existence forever, but Christ, He is eternal life. He said, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believes in me, though
he were dead, though he dies physically, Yet shall he live,
and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. He delivers us from the fear
of death, as we know that he overcame death, and he did so
as our representative. And by faith in him, when a believer
dies, Physically, he doesn't really die. He just goes to be
with the Lord. I've got an article in Next Sunday's
Bulletin, I believe, a comment by one of the Puritans on that
scripture, the day of one's death is better than the day of his
birth. And his comment is basically this, that the day of one's death
is the funeral to all of his sorrows. To all of his sorrows. And that's so. For a believer,
he delivers us from the bondage of the fear of death. Look at
this in 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. Verses 55 and 56, the apostle
speaks to death, oh death, where's thy sting? You know, we've sprayed
outside the door here in the front for some yellow jackets
a few times, and they just keep coming back, putting those little
nests, building those little nests. And the reason we spray
is because nobody wants to get stung, nobody. I sure don't. But you know, if those bees didn't
have a stinger, we wouldn't have to do that. No one would be afraid
of them. Well, the sting of death is sin. But wait a minute. Our sins are
gone. Our sins have been dealt with.
Our sin debt has been paid. And the strength of sin is the
law. But thanks be unto God, which giveth us the victory.
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, he delivers liberty from
the bondage of the fear of death. And one other thing I want to
mention, liberty from the bondage of Satan. Did you know that every
person born into this world is under the dominion and power
of the evil one of Satan? And the scripture speaks of them
being taken captive by Him at His will. The Lord Jesus Christ,
He delivers us, gives us liberty from the bondage of Satan. Look at one place to show this,
Colossians chapter 1. First John, John tells us the
whole world, life in the wicked one. Paul said that we all walked
according to the course of this world, according to the power
of the prince of evil. But in Colossians chapter 1,
verses 12 and 13, we read, giving thanks unto the Father, which
hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in life, who hath delivered us Now if He's delivered us from
the power of darkness, that must mean we were under the power
of darkness. Right? Of course. The Lord Jesus Christ gives liberty
from the bondage of being under the power of darkness and hath
translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. You notice in
the margin that might be translated into the kingdom of the son of
his love. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish but have everlasting life. Well, this is a shadow
of a good thing to come that we find in the law. And there
are many more, I trust we'll get to look at more of them in
the days to come. Now let's sing a hymn before
we are dismissed.