Sunday Morning Service 8:30AM - The Ministry of Christ pt 3 - Hebrews 9 - Pastor Ryan Nichols

If you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9. Well, it's good to be back. Did a wedding last weekend. It was a beautiful day for a wedding. And so, but it's good to be back with you all today. So, we jump back into the middle of the series that we have been doing entitled The Ministry of Christ. This was originally going to be a four-part series.

I think it just turned into a five-part series on accident because I'm going to have to take a little bit longer on chapter 9 than I thought I was going to have to do. And so, today we begin looking at the ministry of Christ because he serves in a better tabernacle. We looked briefly at this. He's going to go more in-depth today. We looked briefly at this. In our first part of this series,

when we said it was a better sanctuary, that Christ is the minister of a better sanctuary, and we said that Christ is the minister of a better covenant. Well, today we begin to talk about the tabernacle and how Christ, in his better ministry, is a minister of a better tabernacle. And so, we pick up in chapter 9, verse 1, and it says this. Now, even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle

in the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread. This is called the holy place. Behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle, which is called the holy of holies, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna and Aaron's rod, which budded, and the tables of the covenant. And above it were cherubim of glory, overshadowed by the holy place, and the holy place shadowing the mercy seat. But of these things we cannot now speak in detail. Now, when these things

have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship. But into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way of the Holy Spirit is not only the way of the Holy Spirit, but the way of the Holy Spirit. And so, a way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed with the outer tabernacle, which is still standing.

While the outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly, both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make the worshipper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things, who is the He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood he entered the holy place once for all, having obtained the eternal redemption.

For if the blood of goats and bulls, the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those which have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? A better tabernacle. So, what we're going to do in this first section of chapter 9 is we are going... We're going to compare the earthly tabernacle, which we'll go into some detail about, with the heavenly tabernacle, which is the fulfillment or the substance of the shadow that the earthly tabernacle showed us.

And so, the first thing that we're going to do is we're going to look at the earthly tabernacle. It starts in verse 1. It says, now, the first covenant... Remember, he's been talking about the old versus the new covenant. That was everything that we went through two weeks ago. We compared and contrasted the old covenant, which was based upon the faithfulness of man, to the new covenant.

Which was based upon the faithfulness of God. He says, the first covenant, the old covenant, it had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. And so, he lays this groundwork because what he's going to do is he's going to compare and contrast the tabernacle of the old covenant, which had divine worship and an earthly sanctuary, to the tabernacle of the new covenant, which also has divine worship and has a heavenly sanctuary. So, he begins to describe for us.

This earthly sanctuary. So, let's look at this description. Starting in verse 2, it says this. For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one. And what he's going to do is he's going to walk us through the tabernacle and point some things out to us that he's not going to go into detail about. As a matter of fact, he even says, we don't really have time to go into detail about these things.

But these are the implements that were in the tabernacle. Now, we've talked a lot over the past few weeks about the tabernacle. And I think sometimes it's hard to paint that picture in our heads. So, what I had... What video folks do this morning is I had them pull up a picture of a tabernacle, of an artist's rendering of a tabernacle. Because visual aids are fun, aren't they?

Remember in school when they rolled the TV out, those of you that are older. Remember they rolled the TV out that was the size of the room itself. And they were like, today we're going to look at some visual aids on the TV. And we were like, excellent. Here's your visual aid. Okay? So, he begins to describe this for us. Now, he says, for there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, which is what's going to be referred to as the holy place.

That's the part to that side of the screen. And it says this. Within that tabernacle, within the holy place, there was the lampstand, and there was the table, and there was the sacred bread. So, on that side, you can see that lampstand that's being referred to. And remember, we said that there was a purpose for that lampstand. That was the only point of illumination inside of both the tabernacle and the temple.

And so, it was important that that always be lit. And, of course, that talks about... Because Jesus is the light of the world. Over on this side, you see this table. And that table is what's called the table of showbread. And there would be 12 loaves that would be placed out there. One for each of the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel. And they had to be placed out there freshly every single week.

And that table of showbread, of course, is representative to us of Jesus. Because he is the bread of life. And so, we see on this outer court... You have those two things that are mentioned. Now, he mentions the altar of incense with the most holy place. But I want you to notice where the altar of incense is. That's the thing sitting on this side of the veil.

And so, he puts it with the holy place because it sits right next to the veil. He goes on to say this. Beyond the second veil of the tabernacle, which is called the holy of holies, having a golden altar of incense. Again, this has it placed just outside of the veil. And, of course, that golden altar. The golden altar of incense was important in that that incense had to be specially prepared.

There was a specific recipe for the way that it was prepared. And part of the role of the priest was to maintain that altar of incense. Because that, of course, pictures the prayers of the saints going up to the Lord. But it also pictures for us the fact that Jesus is always living to make intercession for us. Because the burning of the incense is always representative of prayer.

And so, it says, behind the second veil. And you can see that veil right there in between where the altar of incense is and where the Ark of the Covenant is. Now, it's important to pay attention to that veil because that's what he's going to point out to us about the difference between the earthly sanctuary and the heavenly sanctuary. That veil was a specifically made article within the tabernacle.

And depending on who you read, that veil was anywhere from 4. To 16 inches thick. Commentators sort of debate on that. No matter how you look at it, that veil is important. And we're going to talk about why that veil is important in just a minute. But it says, having a golden altar of incense, verse 4. And then the Ark of the Covenant covered on all sides with gold.

In which was the golden jar holding the manna and Aaron's rod which budded and the tables of the covenant. And above it were cherubim of glory. Overshadowing the mercy seat. And so what looks like it has smoke coming up from it, that would be what's called the Ark of the Covenant. Now, the Ark of the Covenant, again, was a specifically made box. And that box was, of course, picturing the presence of God amongst the people.

That was where man could meet with God. And that box was, first of all, made of acacia wood. Which is interesting because, first of all, acacia wood does not rot. Second of all, acacia wood speaks of its earthiness. And acacia wood speaks of its earthly nature, right? The earthly nature of that box. And so, of course, it's picturesque of Jesus. But then that box is covered completely in gold.

It's wrapped in gold. Which, of course, speaks not only of the kingly nature, but the divine nature of Jesus. So it is both earthly and divine. Just like Jesus, who is both fully God and fully man. So it's interesting to pay attention to that. And then inside of that box, there were three things. Three really important things. First of all was a jar of manna.

Now, you may be saying, what is that exactly? Because that's what the word manna means. Manna means what is it? And so if you were like, manna, what is it? You'd be like, exactly. Sort of like that who's on first, sort of a... Anyway. So there's this golden jar of manna. Why is manna in there? Because manna is what sustained them through the wilderness. But if you remember, if you move into the New Testament,

when Jesus fed the 5,000, there in the book of Matthew. Well, in all of the Gospel accounts. When Jesus fed the 5,000, there in the book of Matthew. Well, in all of the Gospel accounts. Well, in all of the Gospel accounts. fed the 5,000, they show up the next day looking for bread, right? This is given to us in John chapter 6. They show up the next day looking for more bread. And what did the people say? Jesus

said, I'm not going to give you bread again. Then they said, Moses gave us manna from heaven. And he said, listen, the bread from heaven is standing right in front of you today. And so that's why that jar of manna is placed inside of the Ark of the Covenant. The second thing that's inside of the Ark of the Covenant is Aaron's rod that budded. Now, there's this story in, I believe it's the book of Numbers, where there's some debate about who

actually should be the high priest. Oh, Moses, you and Aaron, you're taking way too much authority to yourselves because there's always a question of authority. Things haven't changed a whole lot in the world today. You're taking way too much authority on yourselves. We think we can contact God just as much as you. We think we have the same kind of authority.

that you have. And so God says, okay, here's what you're going to do. Everybody that thinks that they should be the high priest should bring their rod, which was specific to an individual, bring your rod in and place it inside of the tabernacle. And whosoever rod buds, that's who the high priest is. Well, so they lay all these rods in and they come back the next

morning and not only had Aaron's rod budded, but it had also produced almond blossoms. God was like, this is your guy. And so they took that rod and they placed it inside of the Ark of the Covenant. Why? Because it speaks of the high priestly authority of Aaron, which is why it's placed inside of the Ark of the Covenant, because this Ark of the Covenant that is both earthly and divine,

that has the bread of life inside of it, also has the authority of the high priest in it. Are you guys tracking with me? Everybody with me? Okay. So then there's a third thing that's in there. The third thing that's in there is referred to, here as the tables of the covenant, the tablets of the law. Now, I never thought about this before until I was listening to, I think it was Lloyd Pulley teach on this. And he said, I bet those

tablets were cut cleaner than anything that a machine could do today. And as I was listening to that, sometimes I read for a little while and I study, and then I have to put something on my ears to listen to and do active things because my ADHD kicks in. And I'm like, okay, I have to move forward. And so I'll listen to that while I find random things to do around the church. And the

random thing I was doing at that moment was watering the flowers out front. I don't need to do that today. Obviously, that's done. Jesus is like, I got that for you this week. Do something else. But that day, it was hot. And so I was watering flowers. And as I'm listening to that, I'm looking at the stone etchings that we have on both sides above where those flowers are. And I

thought, I bet it looked even cleaner than that. This perfectly etched. And I wonder what that, sidebar, I wonder what that was like, right? Like when God wrote that, was it just like, that's a machine. That's a laser machine. I don't know if you know that or not. It's a laser finger drawing those things out, right? Perfectly put in there. Why were the tables of the tablets of the covenant put in there? Well, because that is God's law. That is

God's standard of holiness. So inside of this ark that was both earthly, and divine, is both the, is the bread of life. There is the rod of the authority of the high priesthood. And there's the purity of the law. Almost like the entire ark of the covenant speaks of Jesus, right? And so on top of it, there is placed, it says, and above it were cherubim, verse five, of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat. But of these things, we cannot now speak

in detail. You can't make it out very well. I can barely see it from where I am. So I'm guessing from where you guys are, you can't really see it, but you can see two forms above that box. They were two angels that were facing each other with their wings sort of facing each other. And that pure gold lid that was put on it was called the mercy seat. And that mercy seat is

important because it not only is where the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled so that man could be atoned for, but it was the place where God met with man. We see in everything of this earthly tabernacle that was fantastic. You can understand why the Jewish people looked at this and said, oh my gosh, this is ornate and this is amazing. Look at that. That's a tent. And then they built a temple, which was even cooler than that. You can understand why

they loved the imagery. You can understand why they loved that there was something physical that they could see and that they could touch, and why it was hard for them now to transition to Jesus, who they couldn't always see. When they've got this tabernacle or this temple in front of them that they could see, because going from the earthly to the spiritual is a difficult transition for us as human beings. He goes on to explain more as he talks about the inadequacy of the earthly tabernacle. He says now, verse six,

when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine work. And so, when they've got this tabernacle or this temple in front of them,

the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship. And that outer tabernacle, that holy place where the lampstand and the table of showbread and the altar of incense was, that was where the priesthood would go in and they would minister to the Lord on a daily basis. We're given a little picture of that in the book of Luke, when John the Baptist's dad is in there, and he's ministering to the Lord by maintaining the altar of incense when God appears to him through the angel, or when the angel appears to him and says, you're going to have a son. That's the daily work that was done. It was only done by the priesthood, by the Levitical priesthood,

but that was the daily work that was done of the temple. And he says, in this earthly sanctuary that has been prepared, the priests were continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship. And so, the further you went into the tabernacle, the more limited the access was. If there was a big picture out there, which I wanted to use, but it wasn't as detailed on the inside that I wanted. There's a big picture out there, but it wasn't as detailed on the inside that I wanted.

There's an outer court that's fenced in, and inside of that outer, oh, that's the one. Inside of that outer court, the video people, everybody, they're really good at what they do. Anybody could come into this outer court. You had to enter through the curtain, but that was accessible to most of the nation of Israel, as long as you were ceremonially clean and things along those lines. And you had the brazen altar where the sacrifices were made, and then the bronze laver

where the priests would wash before they would go in. But as you went into the temple, the access, or the tabernacle, access starts being denied. If you're just a member of the nation of Israel, you can't just go into the holy place. Only the Levitical priesthood can do that in order to perform the worship. Well, the access continues to become more narrow when you get into

the holy, the most holy place, because notice what it says in verse 7. But into the second, only the high priest enters. Once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself, and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. Now, all of a sudden, the access is considerably limited. First of all, it's limited to one person. One person can actually go directly into the place

where they can meet with God, where that ark of the covenant is. And that person, the high priest, who we've already talked about, had to have the right birth, had to have the right pedigree, all those kinds of things. So it's limited to one very specific person. But even that one very specific person who actually has access into that place where you could actually meet with God, where the presence of God was among the people, he could only go in once a year. It's not like he

could just be like, oh, it's Tuesday. It's time for me to go have my Jesus time, so I'm going to go into the presence of God. No, you do that, you die. That's the limitation, because you cannot go into the presence of God, because you will be killed. And so, only the high priest, only once a year, and even then, he had to do it the right way. He had to do it with a blood sacrifice, two

different blood sacrifices. If you were to go into, in the margin of your Bible, you might write Leviticus 16. Leviticus 16. Because Leviticus 16 talks about this one day that the high priest could go in there. It's called the Day of Atonement. I've talked about it lots of times because it's so precious to me when I began to really understand what the Day of Atonement meant for me. But he would go in once a year, and

the first thing that he would do is, in order for him to make atonement for the sins of the people, he first had to make atonement for his own sins. And so, when you read through Leviticus 16, you find that the first thing he does is he makes a personal sacrifice for sin. And he goes into the veil. This is me going past the veil, by the way. He goes past that veil. I don't even know how you

move a 16-inch thick veil, right? Like, it feels like you and five of your best friends will have to help you get in there. Anyway, he goes past that veil, and he sprinkles blood on the mercy seat, not even for the people, just so that he's worthy to come into the presence of God, so that he can make atonement for the people. Then he goes back out, and he chooses two goats. The two goats

that he chooses, one is the sacrificial goat, the other is the scapegoat. He chooses the sacrificial goat, the scapegoat. He kills the scape, or the sacrificial goat. That's me cutting the goat's neck, by the way. He kills the sacrificial goat, and he takes that blood in, and he sprinkles it on the mercy seat. And listen, this is so intense that what would happen is the priest, a part of

his garments, is all around the base of his garments were these bells. There was a pomegranate and a bell, and they alternated all around his garment. And the reason why they would have that is because if God did not accept the sacrifice, he would strike the priest, and he would strike the priest dead. And there would actually be a rope tied to the ankle of the high priest, so that if God was like, not today, Satan, they could pull him out. The access was incredibly limited. Are you

picking up on this? This is the earthly sanctuary. He says, into the second, only the high priest enters, once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. Now, he gives his commentary on this in verse 8. He says, the Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed

while the outer tabernacle is standing. The way into the holy place has not been disclosed. In other words, it's not been opened as long as the tabernacle is standing. Now, let me tell you a couple reasons why this is incredibly important. The first reason, of course, is theological for us. We must understand that, before we can be thankful that God has prepared a way, we must understand that, apart from God

preparing a way, there is no way. One of my favorite verses in all of Scripture comes out of the book of Isaiah, and it says, thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. Behold, I dwell in a high and a holy place. And before you get into how you can dwell with God, we have to understand that if it were not for the work of Jesus Christ, listen, we would have, no hope of ever coming near to God. We would have no hope of ever knowing God. We would have

no hope of ever being accepted by God. We would have no hope of having personal relationship with God. Everything of the purpose for which we were created was destroyed by sin, including our access to the Father. And for just a moment, think about what would have happened if Jesus had not come onto the scene. What would have happened if God had not laid aside

He's his glory so that he could come down and dwell among us to be both fully God and fully man, to be both earthly and divine in order to take the sacrifice of sin upon himself. Listen, you and I are hopeless. The entire world is hopeless. And that's why the writer to the Hebrews is pointing this out, because they want to go back to a system where there's a veil that keeps you from the presence of God. And so I have a question for you. Do you want to go back to a system where there's

a veil that keeps you from the presence of God? Do you want to be in a place where the way that you approach God is because of how good you are, or because of how well you've kept a certain set of rules, or because of how well you've kept the sacraments, or because of how well you've done this, that, or the other thing? I got to tell you, we're in really big trouble if that's the case. Because I bet a number of you were distracted from heaven just walking, just driving to church this morning, right? In the rain. Maybe

it was just me. I came to church really early this morning, right? Like, I had to confess a couple of things on my way to church this morning. First of all, I got into my truck, and I was just a sopping wet dog, and I had just basically had to go from here to row four to get into my truck. That's it. But it was pouring down rain, because I came at 645. That was when the skies were very

angry with us. It was pouring down there, and I was like, oh my gosh, I am just a soaked rat. And then I get out of my truck over here, and I used the umbrella. I felt really good about using my umbrella. I felt really smart about using my umbrella. And I make it all the way in, and I'm pretty good to go, right? Like, I made it all the way in the door. Life is happy, and I go about my business, and I've got my coffee in my hand,

because that's the way I live a good percentage of my life. And I've got my coffee in my hand, and I go to unlock the front door. And as I go to unlock the front door, klutziness just takes over my life. Listen, I usually can go without spilling coffee on myself. I drive the streets of Arc City with no lid on a coffee cup, because I'm a maverick like that. And listen, I can arrive places with no coffee on me whatsoever. My wife's like, I don't know how

you do it. You can barely walk and chew gum at the same time, but you can keep from spilling coffee with no lid driving the streets of Arc, Kansas City, Kansas. And I'm like, when it matters, it matters, okay? I unlock that thing, and somehow I do this with my cup. Why did I do it? I don't know. I had a different shirt on when I left the house first thing this morning. I want you to know that

right now. And I was like, oh, dear God. I was the only one in the church, but that's what came out of my mouth. And I got really angry, and I had to be like, I'm sorry, Lord. And so I went back home, and I changed my shirt, and I came back to church. And I was like, okay, Jesus, I think I'm ready now. If it were up to my works, I still am on the other side of the veil, because no matter

how good we are, we're still kind of clumsy, and we still make mistakes. And he says, that's there. That veil was there to show us that the way had not been made yet as long as the tabernacle is standing. So that's the theological thing. The practical thing is this. I believe that this was written shortly prior to 8070. Why does it matter what happened in 8070? Because in 8070, the temple

was destroyed. And I think that this is almost a prophetic word from God. I think that this is almost a prophetic word from God for these Jewish believers who wanted to return to Allah, for them to hear that as long as the temple is standing, there's still going to always be something between them and God. And that's part of the reason why God allowed that to be destroyed. He says,

middle of verse 9, accordingly, in other words, since there was no way in through that veil, both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body, imposed until a time of reformation. He says, all of those gifts and sacrifices, all of those works can never perfect the conscience. In other words, there will always be part of you when you live according to a system of works, there will always be part of you that says, did I do enough? Is God really pleased with the things that I've done? And I have news for you. Let me just solve

the thing for you right now. You haven't, and it's not. You have not done enough, and God is not pleased with the things that you've done. Ryan, that's really, really bold. How can you know that? Because we're told in Scripture that our good works are like menstrual cloths in the eyes of God. That tells me that no matter how hard I try, I'll never be good enough. God's still like,

let's just throw that away, and let's just stick with what Jesus did. And so as he paints this entire picture for them of this earthly tabernacle, you can imagine the Hebrew readers reading this, right? And sort of basking in the glory of the tabernacle, sort of basking in the glory of the temple as they think about the holy place with the lampstand and the table of showbread and the altar of incense. And they think about that beautiful veil. And they think about that ark of the covenant that was so ornate. And then to hear,

but that can never perfect your conscience. And that brings us to verse 11 as he begins to describe for us the heavenly tabernacle. But when Christ appeared as high priest of the good things to come, he entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation. And not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, he entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal life. And he entered the holy place once for all, having obtained

eternal life. And he entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal life. And he entered his own abode to the valley of eternal redemption. And he entered his own abode to the valley of eternal redemption. Alright, so let's walk through those verses real quick. Number one it says that Christ came as a high priest of good things to come but when Christ came... Again, there was no way

to have access to God, one person, once a year, only with a sacrifice could have direct access to God. That veil always stood as a picture of the fact that no way to God had been made. But when Christ came to show us the good things to come... allen things that are to come, as a high priest of the good things that are to come, the first thing he did is he entered the more perfect tabernacle. God showed us Jesus entering this perfect tabernacle

in a very physical way. Because if you remember, we are told that when Jesus cried out from the cross, it is finished, the veil of the temple was torn in two. I remember when I was a kid, I don't even know how much of a kid I was. Yeah, I was a kid. I was probably 16. This group of people came through town. I'm sure I've talked about this before. They were called Team Extreme. And Team Extreme did all of these like feats of strength, right?

And one of the feats of strength that they did was rip a phone book in half, right? That was epic. We were all like, yeah, right? Monster trucks was the only thing we were really missing at that point in time to have a full man experience. And so they take this phone book in there, and it took some work to tear that thing. Finally, they tear the phone book in half. And as I'm older now,

and I think about the veil of the temple being torn in two, I think about, I picture that really strong guy, only it's God, right? I know you're not supposed to picture God, but it's what I picture in my brain. It's him just taking that thing and just ripping it in half, 16 inches thick, ripping that bad boy in half. And where did he rip it in half from? Top to bottom, indicating a way

in. Because that picture that we were given of him tearing the veil of the temple in two from top to bottom show that he was entering a more perfect tabernacle. A tabernacle that was not made with hands, a tabernacle that is not of this creation, a tabernacle that is heavenly. Because when he entered that tabernacle, he entered into the very throne room of heaven to make atonement if our sins.

He didn't need to go through the holy place and the most holy place. He didn't have to have a rope tied to his ankle. He didn't have to have bells on his robe. None of those things because he was perfect and he was sinless. Therefore, he did not have to make atonement for his own sins before he could make atonement for the sins of the people because he was already perfect in nature.

It says he entered a better tabernacle, a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation. The second thing that we're told is that it says that he did not enter with the blood of goats and calves. He did not enter with the blood of animals because that could only temporarily solve the problem of sin. It was a temporary band-aid on sin.

And so he goes. He goes in with something that is so much better than that. He goes in with his own precious blood. As we are told in the book of 1 Peter, we have not been redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold, but we have been redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus. And he takes his own blood in and he sprinkles it on the mercy seat. And I want you to notice what it says.

It says, and he entered that place. It says, the holy place, once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. I want to focus in for just a moment on those two phrases. Once for all. If you're an underliner or a highlighter or a bracketer or whatever, you should do something to that statement. Because that is one of the most powerful statements in all of the Bible because what Jesus did is once for all.

William, somebody or other in the Bible. The Bible expositors commentary said this, we should not cease to rejoice over these words. Brothers and sisters, if there's any question whether or not the sacrifice of Jesus was enough, it's answered right here because it was once for all. If there's any question about who the sacrifice was for, is it just for the elect or is it for everybody, it's answered right here, once for all.

If there's any question of whether or not Jesus' sacrifice is perpetual or if it's ended. It's answered right here because it said that it was once for all. And we can rest in the fact that that sacrifice was made once for all. Therefore, I don't need to make any more sacrifice for sin. I don't need to hold on to the guilt of my sin. I don't need to hold on to the shame of my sin because what Jesus did was once for all.

Every single sin that I have committed or ever will commit for all of eternity, any sin that anybody has committed up to now and into the future. It was all. It was all laid upon Jesus on that cross because it was a once for all sacrifice. The second phrase I want to point out to you is this, having obtained eternal redemption, having obtained eternal redemption.

The redemption that Jesus Christ bought for us is not just something that lasts for the next year and then we have to do it over again. It's not something that we have to hope that we've done enough to obtain. It's not something that we have to hope that. That his redemption was enough to solve our problem of sin. That redemption was eternally purchased for us.

And I've said it before and I'll say it again. It breaks my heart to think that people are living in a place where they are not resting in the eternal redemption that has been obtained by Jesus. I hate hearing someone say when I ask them, well, do you know for sure you would go to heaven? And these are church going people and they go, well, I sure hope so. And it's like, well, if you sure hope so, then either A, you're not saved or B, you're not really resting.

One of those two things is true because you're either saved or you're not. There's no in-betweeners, right? We need to know that. There's no partially saved people. There's no quarter saved people. There's no three-quarters saved people. There's no 99% saved people. You're either 100% saved or you're 100% not because it's an eternal redemption that he has purchased for you.

You are either born again or you're not born again. Those are the two camps you can be in. There's no middle ground. And so he says it is an eternal redemption that he has purchased for us, that he has obtained for us because of his once for all sacrifice. And after he tells us that Christ is the high priest of the good things to come, he tells us that Christ is the cleansing sacrifice.

Notice what it says in verse 13. For if the blood of goats and bulls. In the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh. How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. He says for if the blood of bulls and goats.

Those are the sacrifices that were made continually for the people, both on the day of atonement. And throughout the year, as different things would come up, they would make these sacrifices. He says, if those were good for the cleansing of the flesh. In other words, if those were good to create atonement where God would pass over your sins for another year.

To where God would continue to accept you for another year until you made the next sacrifice. If that was good, then how much better was the blood of Jesus. But then he talks about one other thing that if you don't know very much about the law, it doesn't make sense to you. Then he says, verse 13. If the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh.

What is he talking about? We see if you go back into the law, you find that there was one specific sacrifice that was to be made. They were to take a red heifer that had no spot or blemish in it. Completely red heifer. And they were supposed to sacrifice that. And they were supposed to burn that. And they were supposed to save the ashes of that red heifer. And this is what those ashes would be used for.

If you touched a dead body, according to the law, you were defiled by that body. In other words, you were defiled by death. And so what they would do is when they found that out. What they would have to do is they would have to take some of those ashes of that red heifer. And they would mix it with water. And in order to be cleansed from your defilement. You had to be set apart.

For I think it was seven days. You had to be set apart from the camp. And then at the end of the time of your separation from the camp. From having been defiled by death. The ashes of the red heifer would be mixed with the water. And they would take that and they would sprinkle you with it. Indicating that you had been cleansed from the defilement of death.

Now I love this because he just pointed out that Jesus is able to cleanse. You and I have been defiled by death. How have we been defiled? Ryan I've never touched a dead body in my entire life. Really before you came to Jesus you were a dead body. You were defiled by death. Remember what God said? The wages of sin is death. In the moment that you eat of this fruit you will die.

And so death was passed on to all of us. We had all been defiled by death. Only we didn't need to be sprinkled with the ashes and the water of hell. Instead we were sprinkled with the precious blood of Jesus. And it's able to cleanse us from the death that we were defiled by. Notice what he says. Let's read it all in context again. For the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer.

Sprinkling those who have been defiled. Sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh. In other words if those cleanse you outwardly. How much more will the blood of Christ. Who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God. Cleanse your conscience from dead works. To serve the living God. I love this. He says if all of those things were good to cleanse the outside of who you are.

Then how much more will the blood of Christ. How much more will the blood of Christ. That is offered through the eternal spirit. Offered to God. Cleanse your conscience. I want to point out two or three things about this verse. The first thing I want to point out. Did you notice the Trinity in this verse? Anybody pick up on that? Let me read it to you again.

Verse 14. How much more will the blood of Christ. That's God the Son. Who through the eternal spirit. That's God the Spirit. Who offered himself without blemish to God. That's God the Father. Cleanse your conscience from dead works. To serve the living God. To serve the living God. Isn't that beautiful? In that much more sacrifice of Jesus. We see that the Holy Trinity was involved in the redemption process.

Christ was the offering. The Spirit was at work. God was the one who received the offering. The second thing that I want to point out to you is this. That the blood of Jesus Christ is much more than anything that this world has to offer. The blood of Jesus Christ is a greater cure than anything that this world has to offer. We need to understand everything of this world.

Whether it's religion. Whether it's psychology. Whether it's the next self-help book that comes out. All those can be is a band-aid to the greatest problem that we all have. And that's sin. All of those things can only mask the problem of sin that we have. The only way that that sin can get truly dealt with is if you come to Jesus. And allow the blood of Jesus Christ to completely cleanse sin.

Listen. Jesus is greater than everything that this world has to offer. And I tell us that because right now the world has a lot of things to offer to us. Don't they? Right now the world has a whole lot of cures that they want to give for the problems that you have in your life. Well if you'll just do this. Well if you'll just follow this method. If you'll just do this thing.

Then everything is going to be a whole lot better. And you're going to be a lot happier of a person. Listen. You can do all those things that you want to. Wear yourself out. Use all your money. Whatever you want to do. I'm here to tell you right now. It's always going to come back to one thing. It's always going to come back to Jesus. It's always going to come back to the fact that the only place of hope that you'll ever have in your life is found in Jesus Christ.

The second thing that, or the third thing that I want to point out to us is this. Not only do we see the Trinity at work in the redemption process. Not only is the blood of Christ much more than everything that the world has to offer. But I want you to notice what the blood of Jesus Christ is able to do. It says that it is able to cleanse our conscience from dead sin.

It's able to cleanse our conscience. That word cleanse means to make clean and pure from defilement. To make clean and pure from defilement. We have to understand what sin truly does to the heart of a human being. Sin truly brings defilement to the heart. It puts stains all over us. And when we come to Jesus, those stains are all washed away. I'm reminded of what we're going through.

I'm reminded of what we're told in the book of Isaiah chapter 1. When God begins to declare through the mouth of Isaiah to the children of Israel the depth of their sin. And do you remember what God says as he declares how ugly their sin is and how terrible their sin is? He says, come now. Let us reason together, you and I, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow.

Because that's what the blood of Jesus Christ is able to do. The blood of Jesus Christ is able to completely cleanse our conscience from the sins that we have dealt with. Now, there's probably two types of people, maybe three sitting in this room. First of all, there's people both watching online and sitting in this room that have never come to Jesus before.

Maybe even come to church a whole lot. And you're pretty defiled on the inside from sin. And that sin has created stains on the inside of you that nothing's ever been able to remove. And quite frankly, the guilt and the shame that you walk around with because of the stains of that sin is what holds you down in your life. And if that's the case, then today's the day to come to Jesus and start declaring those stains so that he can use the Clorox of his blood and wash you clean.

But there's a second group of people in here. There's a group of people in here who have come to Jesus, but you still feel like you're stained. You still feel like you're still stained. And the cure for you is to start believing what's true. To start believing what the Bible says is true and that those stains aren't yours to own any longer. They've been washed clean.

You see, you still have an old picture of your heart. You still have an old picture of what your heart used to look like. And that's what you keep comparing yourself to. You keep saying, yeah, but this is who I am. And it's like, no, it's time to delete that picture. Because that's not who you are anymore. That's not your new identity. Your new identity is cleansed.

Your new identity is clean and pure from defilement. And so it's time to start believing what Jesus says about you and don't believe what Satan says about you. All you can do is say, that's who I was. It's not who I am. That's who I was. It's not who I continue to be. And so if that's you and you need to let go of the past, you need to let go of sins, you need to let go of guilt and shame,

then today's the day. Today's the day to do that. Today's the day to choose to believe what God says and not choose to believe what the enemy wants you to continue to believe. Because he wants you to live in the guilt of your past because then you can't move on to the freedom of your future. But there's probably a third group of people in here. You've been cleansed.

You've been set free. But you've gone back to the stains. You've gone back to living according to who you were before. Whether that's legalism or whether that's sin. You're like, oh man, I kind of miss those stains. And you've gone back to it. And today's the day to say, I've been cleansed. I don't want to keep living in it anymore. I've been cleansed. I don't want to go back and get all stained up again.

Because if I've been made clean, then I don't want that mud all over me. Right? You ever seen a kid on Easter Sunday and they have a, have you ever seen a pastor show up in a white shirt? And he spills coffee all over him. He spills coffee all over himself. Once you put that white shirt back on, you don't want to stain anything anymore. You've been made clean.

Now live like who you are. Not like who you used to be. Because the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed you from an impure conscience. And from dead works. Because the reality of the tabernacle that Jesus serves in is freedom. The reality of the earthly tabernacle is bondage. Choose to live in freedom today. Amen. Let's all stand. And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come before you.

And Lord, I just thank you for the morning that you've given to us and the opportunity that we have to study your word. Lord, I thank you that even though it rained like crazy, Lord, your Holy Spirit is not held back. And so Lord, I just pray that you would use your word in our hearts as you see fit. And that we would really truly rest in who we are in you.

So Father, continue the work of your Holy Spirit in each one of us today, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. Because I wasn't made to be tending a grave. I was called by name. Born and raised back to life again. I was made for more. So why would I make a bed in my shame when a fountain of grace was born in my way? I know I was made for more. Because I know who's of salvation.

Forgiven. Because I was again. Just running my way. Lord, we just give you praise this morning. We give you honor. We give you glory, Lord God. Thank you, Lord, that I don't have to continue wallowing in my sin. I don't have to continue to try to change. I don't have to continue to try to fight and fight against it. I don't have to do any of that, Lord God.

In you, Lord, I'm as saved as I'm ever going to be. Lord, in you, I have new life. Lord, if we're still struggling with that today, I just pray that we would live. Finally start living, Lord. Like we are free because we have been set free. Finally start acting like we are free. Lord God, thank you for your word this morning, God. It was incredibly sharp and powerful.

Thank you so much for it. We love you, Lord, and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Love you guys. Have a great week.