Hartley, Mark: Studies In Hebrews-17-Hebrews 10

Forgot. There you go. Turn in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter ten. Hebrews chapter ten. And while you're turning, I'll just make one additional announcement as far as the Workers Conference. There is a form, there is a sheet that you need to send in. There's a copy of it out on the bulletin board. Just go and make a copy in the office. You have to send that in. It's mandatory. It says right on there if you're going to go. So anyone that's planning on going. Or you can register through the website, or you can call. But you have to register. So if you plan on going, uh, please do that. So, um, just that's just an additional announcement there. Hebrews chapter ten, and we'll read the first eighteen verses. For the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never, 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 worshippers, once purged, should have no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices, there's 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 burnt offerings and offerings for sin thou wouldest not, neither hast 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. 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 footstools. 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 the 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 the remission of these things, or these is, there is no more offering for sin. We know the Lord will add the blessing to the reading of his word. As I said the last couple of times, chapters nine and ten hold a very special place in my life. Um, you know, as many of you know here, that I was saved out of Roman Catholicism, probably the largest cult in the world today. Over one billion souls are on their way to hell through Roman Catholicism. Now, I know some of you don't like to hear that, um, but it's the truth. And the problem with many evangelicals today is they're ignorant of Roman Catholicism, of the wickedness and of the false teachings that are in Roman Catholicism. But one of the primary teachings, one of the foundational teachings of Roman Catholicism is what I was freed from through these verses, and that is that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was given, was offered up once and never to be repeated. And in the Roman Catholic Mass, the teaching, the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, a fundamental dogma that can never be broken, and according to that Catholic Church, anyone who disbelieves this, let him be anathema. That means let him be damned for eternity. Is that when the priest lifts up that white wafer, it becomes the body of Christ again, and he sacrifices it over again on that altar, and Christ dies afresh every time the mass is offered. Well, I don't know any other word for that than blasphemy. Blasphemy. And we'll see this morning why it's so important. I love Roman Catholics. I love them with all my heart. My greatest desire is to always witness to a Roman Catholic and show them the great truth of the gospel that I saw once. But I hate the religion of Roman Catholicism. With every ounce of energy in my body, I hate it. It's a false religion. It has nothing to do with Christ, it's of Satan, and a little bit of truth is mixed in. But like I always said, if I had this glass of water and it was ninety percent water and ten percent poison, how many of you would drink it? How much poison does there have to be in a glass of water to make it death, uh, make it cause death? Well, it doesn't take very much, does it? Well, the same thing with Roman Catholicism. And I'm so glad, I'm so glad that God freed me of that twenty seven years ago and set my feet on a solid rock and gave me the assurance that my salvation is finished, the work of it is over, and that Christ paid it all, and that he never needs to be sacrificed again. I thank God that Jesus Christ died once and forever. I thank God that he'll never have to die again. And when we gather together every Lord's Day, it's not to sacrifice him afresh, it's to meet together in remembrance of him, and symbolically in the loaf and in the cup represent his body and his blood, not literally, but symbolically, that we might proclaim his death, not reenact it, but proclaim it again until he comes back for us. And I proclaim it. I mean, I, I speak about the Lord's death all the time, but I'll tell you what, when I hear someone talking about sacrificing their flesh, it gets my blood pressure up. And it should all of us, brethren, it should all of us. So these verses have a very special place for me. And in here in chapter ten, we have a continuation of these thoughts that we've seen all the way from chapter eight. The better priesthood of Christ. It's better, and it's been demonstrated in chapter eight, verses one through six. in the better tabernacle that he established. Not an earthly tabernacle made with hands, but a heavenly, eternal tabernacle that is waiting for us, even the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He is the temple. He is the gathering place for all eternity. Then in chapter eight, verses seven through thirteen, that better priesthood was demonstrated through a better covenant, a covenant that wasn't dependent upon what you and I do. It was wholly dependent upon God, and God himself sealed it with the precious blood of his son. It's a covenant that is eternal. It's a covenant that is unconditional. It's a covenant that is based upon grace and not upon law. It's a covenant that was not only made with the Jews, but it was made with us as well, and we enter into it and enjoy the benefits of it. And finally, chapter nine, verses one through twenty eight, we saw that better priesthood demonstrated through the better ministry of Christ that was better than that of Aaron and the high priest, especially on that day of atonement that was spoken of in chapter nine, and we'll also see mentioned here in chapter ten. Jesus Christ is a better priest, in a better tabernacle, with a better covenant, and a better ministry. Why would we go back to those things? The theme of this chapter, we could say, is that the sacrifice of Christ fully, completely, absolutely prepares the believer for worship in the Holy of Holies. Here in chapter ni- uh, chapter 10, we have the effect of the sacrifice of the priesthood of the work of Christ explained to us. And the perfecting that's spoken of throughout this, especially these first eighteen verses, could never, never, never be accomplished through the Levitical system, nor through the sacrifice of animals on our behalf. The God-man had to die in order to take away sin. The animal sacrifices, their blood that was shed, the millions, possibly billions of gallons that was shed on those altars throughout the history of man from the beginning paid for not one single sin in all their totality. But the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed once on the cross of Calvary paid for the sin of all the world. And twenty seven years ago, I entered into the benefit of that. And many of you here, even before that time, entered into the benefit of that. And if you're not here this, if you're here this morning and you don't know for sure that you have the benefit, if you're here this morning, there's any doubt in your mind, if there's anything else at all that you're trusting for salvation, today's the day. Cry out to God, and he says, I will cleanse you by the blood of the Lamb. I will clothe you in his righteousness. I will remove those filthy rags of your own self-righteousness, of your own good works, and I will clothe you in the righteousness of my son. How many of us here would rather be dressed in filthy, dirty, nasty, stinky smelling rags than in a nice suit or beauty- beautiful dress. I don't think any of us would be. So why would we want to be clothed in the filthy righteousness of our own works, when the clothing, the righteousness of Christ is there for us? God is offering it to us. Let's take it, clothe ourselves in it, and enjoy the benefits of it. I'll tell you what, I don't think a single Christian in this room would go back. Would we? Not one of us. Not one of us. The law could never do it. The great desire of God was to make us perfect. Not just good, because what's good? Really, what is good? I mean, there's good, there's better, and there's best, isn't there? There's even grades of goodness, levels of goodness. How good do you have to be to go to heaven? Can somebody answer that? How good do you have to be? Well, I know the answer to that. You gotta be perfect. That's how good you gotta be. But the problem is, man thinks he's good in and of himself, and God's condemnation on man is that there is none good, no, not one. I wasn't good. I'm still not good, but I'm perfect. Yeah. I mean, ask my wife and children to say, is Mark good? No, better off don't ask them. Keep this fallacy in your mind that I'm good or something, you know, but I'm not. I'm a wicked, no good, hell deserving sinner is what I am. But by the grace of God and the work of Jesus Christ, he has perfected me. That is God's demand on man, not goodness. Show me one verse in the Bible that says be good. Show me one. There's not one, but I can show you a couple of verses in the Bible that says be perfect. Matthew chapter five and verse eight— forty eight, excuse me, the Lord Jesus Christ says, be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. I'm glad he had that last little bit there. You know why I'm glad? Because I could have said, well, perfect, okay, well, I'll determine what perfection is. No, I can't determine what perfection is. What is perfection? It's as perfect as God is. Now there's the standard. There's what God's word says. And when we see that standard, that- that's what's not being preached today, that's what's not being told today, but if we have that standard up here of perfection, the same perfection of God himself, every one of us, and that's what the word of God says, he gave the law so that every mouth will be shut. Every one of us will have to admit, I don't meet the standard. What do I do? I'm lost and I'm undone. I'm on my way to hell because if I'm not perfect, I'm going to hell. And I admit I'm not perfect. So where am I going? Hell. And when I came to that point in my life, because I'd never heard that before, for nineteen years of my life, I had never heard that. What I had heard was, well, you're basically a good person. You had original sin that was washed away at baptism, but you're basically a good person that messes up every once in a while, and when you mess up, come and the priest will forgive you. I said, first of all, how can the priest forgive me when I haven't even offended him? Second of all, how can the priest forgive me when he doesn't have a clue what I've done? I can lie to him, and he wouldn't even know it. And I did. And I did. And every Roman Catholic that's honest will tell you the same thing. We did. We lied all the time. It was kind of a game sometimes. But when I came to that point and I saw that God's standard wasn't just goodness, not just being as good as my neighbor or better than somebody else, God's standard was absolute sinless perfection. I knew I didn't need that. If you haven't seen that, if you haven't understood that, you're lost. I don't care if you profess to be saved. I don't care if you've been baptized. I don't care if you've been breaking bread here for fifty years. You're lost. And the wonderful gospel is that Jesus Christ didn't save the good people. Jesus Christ didn't come to save those that didn't need salvation. He came to save wicked sinners like me. Isn't that what Paul said to Timothy? Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief, and every one of us can say, Paul, get out of the way because I'm the chief one, not you. I'm the worst of the bunch. Thank God he came to save me. What the law could never do, the perfecting, the absolute sanctification, the absolute cleansing, the taking away of all sin. Now the power of sin, now the penalty of sin, but someday very soon the presence of sin. And thank God in heaven, even the remembrance of sin. You know, brethren, we'll never remember any of our sins in heaven. We'll never remember one of them. We're not going to think in heaven, boy, you know what, I was a pretty bad rascal down there. I, I don't see how, boy. We're not going to remember that. In heaven, what we're going to remember is Christ, and Christ alone. He's going to fill our thoughts so much there won't be any room for anything else. Right now, God says he has no remembrance of our sins, but someday soon he'll let us enjoy that same wonderful privilege. What the law could never do in its weakness, Jesus Christ did for us. It says in verse one, for the law having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things can never, with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then they would not have ceased to be offered, because if the worshippers once purged should have no more conscience of sin. The Levitical system was weak, it was incomplete, it was imperfect, it was incapable of doing God's will in regards to man's salvation. The law came, it was good, it's perfect, it's right, it's still as the God's standard, but all it was given for was to show me what a sinner I am. And raise your hand right now if you've never, ever broken one of the Ten Commandments, let alone I could, we could go beyond that if you think you haven't broken any of them. We could go beyond, and I could say, do you really love your neighbor like you love yourself? And beyond that, do you really love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength? If you don't, you're under the condemnation. It's God's standard, but there was no power to save. It wasn't given for that purpose. It was given for the purpose for man to realize how lost he was. And the problem with the gospel being preached today, brethren and dear friend, is we've lost sight of that very first and important initial step to salvation. I've got to realize I'm lost, and I've got to realize I've got to repent. Repentance just means a change of mind. I'm on the wrong path. I'm on the road that leads to death and destruction. I'm on the road that leads to hell and eternal damnation in the lake of fire, and I've got to do a one hundred and eighty degree U-turn. Oh God, help me. That's what we need today. That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. Isn't it interesting that John the Baptist, the precursor to Christ, his message was repent, repent, for salvation is at hand. The law came in to do that, but the law, it it was just a shadow. It was just a type, it was just a figure. It wasn't the reality. I mean, if if if I'm walking outside and even here, you know, if you can see behind me, I cast a shadow, not very big. As thin and trim as I am, you know, sometimes it's hard to see that shadow, but I do, I cast one. And if you don't believe me, we'll go outside later on and, and I'll show it to you, but I cast a shadow. The shadow is caused by the reality of my person, but the shadow has no substance. The shadow has no power, no strength. You can step on it. I can turn off the light and it disappears immediately. It has no life in itself, but it pictures me. Same thing with a photograph. I carry a photograph in my billfold. On one side I have a picture of Angie, and on the other side I have a picture of my children. And I'm gone from home. I open up that billfold. Every time I open up that billfold and spend money, you know why I have it there? It's because I always remember every time I spend money, I'm taking away money from my family to spend on something. I'll tell you what, it helps you keep your perspective in mind if I realize money I spend right here, right now on myself is money I take away from them. And they're my thoughts. They're in my remembrance. They're in the forefront of my mind as I look into those pictures. But when I get home, I don't open my billfold and sit and look at the pictures. The reality's there. There's my wife, and there's my children. And you would think me insane if I sat in my chair and just looked at those pictures, when the reality is right there that I can talk to, that I can interact with, that I can hold and touch, that I can have a relationship with. You'd think me a fool if I looked at those pictures. Well, the same thing is true. Why, why would we ever be satisfied with the shadow of the law when the reality is before us, even Christ? Why would we want to go to those man-made rituals and those temporal rituals when the reality is there? Why? What a fool. That's why Paul would say, oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you to turn you back to the law and the rituals and the rudiments and those basic things that weren't even given for salvation? Why would you go back to those things? And it's interesting to know, once I got saved, and again, we'll just, we'll just mention Catholicism again. Once you get saved and you look at all the things that takes place in the Catholic Church, even the, the robes of the priest and the altar and the incense and the ceremonies and the candles and the, the high church spirit of that and all of the things they do and how they bow down and worship objects. That's all based on Old Testament ritualism. It's a deadness. Why go back to that when the reality is there? And that's why it's so beautiful once we get to heaven. We'll still have the Lord's table, but we won't have the Lord's Supper anymore. They're two different things. The Lord's table talks of fellowship, of communion, of oneness. We'll always have that, but we won't have the Lord's Supper anymore. Why would we celebrate the Lord's Supper with a loaf and a cup when we got the reality right there before us? How foolish that would be. How foolish that would be. So the law was just a shadow. And look at it. It says in verse one, those same sacrifices, same sacrifices, the ones we saw, we looked back m- months ago, we were in Leviticus chapters one through seven. Those sacrifices, along with some other sacrifices, the drink offering, the heave offering, the way of offering, we could go on and on. Those sacrifices were offered over and over and over and over again, every day. Every day. And the Day of Atonement came every year on the same day, every year, every year, every year. They were offered the same sacrifices daily, year by year, continually. And then he says, verse two, for, for if those sacrifices could have accomplished the purpose that God desired, wouldn't they have ceased to been offered? You know, one of the interesting things in the Old Testament, one thing you will never find, you will never find two sacrifices offered up to God for the same sin. Even under the Old Testament economy, if I brought a sacrifice to God in regard to a sin that I committed or a trespass against God's law, if I brought that offering in the proper manner before God and I offered it up, I didn't have to come with another one for that same sin. What if those temporal things, if those incomplete things, if those things were just a shadow, had that great value in God's sight? Why would I ever doubt that the sacrifice of Christ, which he says was offered for all my sins? Why would he ever have to offer himself again? Those sacrifices could never bring perfection to the, to the conscience of man. In fact, we're told a little bit later on that those very sacrifices, what they were, was a reminder of sin. Now think about it just for a moment. Let's just take, for example, the Passover sacrifice. Uh, on the tenth of the month, the lamb would be chosen out of the flock, and then for four days, that lamb would be scrutinized. That lamb would be, uh, examined from head to toe to make sure there was no spot or blemish or anything that would defile that lamb or make that lamb, um, a lamb that was improper to offer, because the lamb had to be perfect. And then that lamb was offered. Now, think about it just for a moment. Sometimes, because we're so far away from those things, we forget the, the complete implication of them. Think about this. Here's a lamb. Now, now lambs have value, okay? You can sell, uh, they grow up and you sell their wool. Later on, possibly you slaughter the, the lamb, uh, and, and eat it, or, or you make, uh, use of it, uh, in some other way. And so it has value. And this lamb, as you're looking at during those four days, and here's the perfect lamb, not just any old lamb, but this is a perfect lamb. This lamb has more value than maybe some of the others that are in the flock. This is the prime choice of all that you have, and you're looking at that lamb, and you're thinking for those four days, I've got to sacrifice, I've got to kill this lamb. Why? Because of sin. And all the sacrifices. Sin, sin, sin. My imperfection, my need for fellowship with God can only be met through this sacrifice, through this lamb. And that's all you think about. It was a continual, daily reminder, weekly, monthly, yearly, all throughout your life, sin, sin, sin. That's all it could do. That's all it could do. And those sacrifices could never clear the conscience. There was always the realization that, yeah, I've offered up that lamb, but I still, all I think about is that sin that I committed. What the Lord Jesus Christ has done through his sacrifice is he has purged our sins. He has washed them away by his precious blood, not just covered them up, he's washed them away. He has cleansed our conscience. Now I want to say it this way, and you have to listen closely because the words are very close in their pronunciation. A Christian should never have a guilty conscience. Never. Because the moment we realize we've sinned, we need to confess it, repent, and turn away from it, desiring not to do it anymore. We should never have a guilty conscience. But a Christian, always having before him the cost of our salvation, the price that Jesus Christ played upon the paid upon the cross of Calvary, we should always be conscious of our sinfulness. We will never reach sinless perfection. I don't care what anybody says this side of heaven. My old man, my old nature is stronger than he ever was, more active, more alive, more powerful than he ever was. He'll always be tw- uh, 20 years older than my new nature, and he gets fed even when I don't want him to get fed. Because I'm bombarded all the time by the things of this world, by the flesh, and by the demonic forces in the heavenlies. I'm always conscious that I'm a sinner, but I should never have a guilty conscience. Hear the two different words? Conscious of sins, but no guilty conscience, because the blood of Jesus Christ has paid for my sins. And the reason that we need not to have a guilty conscience is because how could I come to God and offer up praise and worship? How could I come to into his presence and offer up prayers and thanksgivings if I was a, had a guilty conscience. I couldn't do it. But God says, come in with boldness. Come in with confidence, not cockiness or haughtiness, but with confidence, knowing that your sins have been purged by the blood of Jesus Christ. And I can come to him saying, oh God, I'm a sinner, but thank you for saving my soul. Thank you for cleansing me and making me whole. Thank you, God. I can come to him like that and lay my request at his feet and know that he will answer in perfect accordance with his will. Those sacrifices could never take away sin, but the sacrifice of Christ could. Here's, here's what Darby says concerning this. He, God, says their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. But you say, I sinned today, tomorrow, et cetera. God says, I remember no more. If there is sin, what can put it away? There is no more offering for sin. If it is not put away, how can it ever be? If he does not remember them, or excuse me, if he does remember them, there's no hope for me because Christ will not die again. And without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. It is a very important for the conscience to get into the presence of God and to know our whole condition as to sin there. Looked at as a Christian, there is no sin for this one reason, that Christ has been in the condition that I was. By virtue of him being in it, the condition has ceased to exist, and he has gone a man into heaven by virtue of the condition having ceased. God has said to him, sit on my right hand until I make thy enemies like footstools. For the sacrifices provided for men in the flesh, there is no, or excuse me, there is substituted this one sacrifice of Christ. And what he means by that is, if I come to God and say, God, look at these sins. I know I've confessed them, I know I've turned away from them, I know Jesus died for them, but I still, I just can't get them out of my mind. Well, if Christ isn't offered again, if Christ isn't sacrificed again, what am I going to do with those sins? If God really remembers them, if God really hasn't put them away, what am I gonna do? If it's true what so many Christians who have not understood this truth believe, that sure, Jesus died for my sins, and maybe God forgives me, but I can't forgive myself, or I can't forgive other people. What are you gonna do? If the shedding of blood is absolutely essential to forgiveness, to cleansing, to salvation. If Jesus Christ's one sacrifice didn't accomplish that for me, I'm of all men most miserable because there is no other sacrifice. There is no other way. But here's what God says. I will remember them no more. I will never bring them up again. I will never think about them again. I will never bring them to the forefront of my mind again. You'll never hear it from me. And if we don't hear it from God, why should we throw it up into him again and again? Why? We often come to God and say, God, I, I just, I, I've sinned like this. I sinned the day before yesterday. I sinned yesterday. I sinned last week. I've sinned today, the same sin, and we bring it back up to God again, and God virtually says, I don't want to hear about it. I'm not thinking about those past sins. Why should you? But in our desire to almost try to be more holy than God, more righteous than him, we've got to say, I've done this sin X number of times and confessed it X number of times. Why? God said, I put that sin as far as the east is from the west, never to remember it again. I put it buried in the deepest sea. It'll never be brought up again. Why bring it up to him? What we need to say to God is, God, I sinned. I did this particular thing. I say the same thing you do about it. That's what confession is. I call it what you call it. I recognize it before you, and you have promised me that if I confess my sin, you're faithful, and you're righteous, and you're just and holy altogether, to the point that you forgive me my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteous. Thank you, God, for forgiving me. Give me the power over the sin that I need. That's what we need to do, brethren. That's what we need to do. The blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us. Don't be like Peter. You're not going to wash my feet. Well, if I don't wash your feet, you have nothing to do with you. Well, then just don't wash my feet, wash my head and hands also. That's what we're like, aren't we? When we're lost, we say, you're not going to die for me. I'm going to take care of it myself. I'm going to pay for it myself. My good works are going to get me to heaven, or my church membership, or my baptism, or my family, or whatever else is going to get me into heaven. And then we see that we're saved, and we fall into the other extreme. Well, Jesus, don't just cleanse my feet, cleanse my hands and hands also. And he says, you don't need that. You've been cleansed altogether. What you just need to do is confess that daily walk that you have to where you transgress my law, just confess that, and I'll cleanse it away by the same precious blood, and that's it. That's it. That's what God has done. Now somebody's phone's ringing. Well, then stop it. Thank you. That's a pretty song, though. Pretty song. That's what God wants. Under the law, no sacrifice was ever repeated for the same sin. At the same time, the shedding of animal blood could never have the effect on the defilement of the people and could not bring about the needed and desired cleansing. They could only pertemporally cover up sin. I barely got started. I'll tell you what, Brendan, I may not always be right, but I'll tell you what, I'm passionate about this. I look at my life before, and I look at my dear family. I look at my dear mother, just not too long for this world. And I see that if I get a phone call and says that she died, I know where she'll be. And it causes great pain in my heart. I love my mom. I want to see her in heaven. And I've offered over and over again the explanation that she's been so defiled and so beguiled by man. We need to pray for those people. A billion souls in the world today. Lost. And their leaders, they know exactly what they're doing. They know exactly what the defilement and the, the wickedness and the lies that they're telling. They know it. They know it. And they do it anyway. If you're here this morning, please don't walk out that door. It's too dangerous out there to not be covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, to not have that sacrifice to be your own, to not him have him as your substitute, as your advocate. Don't let him be your judge, because if he sits on that great white throne and you stand before him, there's only one end for you, eternal damnation in the lake of fire. Don't try to go to him on your own good works. Don't, not even in part, not even in part. It's like my brother says to me, Jesus did his part, now we got to do our part. And I said to him, Paul, his name's Paul, here's my Bible. Show me that here, and I'll rush back to Roman Catholicism. You'll see me dive right back into it, but it's not here. Here we read Jesus paid it all. And it is. And if there's any doubt in your mind, or you don't believe that this morning, I wouldn't leave those doors. I'd fall on my face right now and say, God, have mercy on me, a sinner, and save me by the blood of Jesus Christ. And if you're here and you've known Christ for years, let's get out of this. Remembrance of sin. Let's quit wallowing down in the mire and muck of our sin. Let's realize that our conscience, not only just our lives have been purified and made perfect, but our consciences have been cleansed, and we should have no remembrance of sin. We should walk in newness of life. We should walk in fellowship and communion with him. Let's keep short accounts with God. Let's confess our sins to him and never have a guilty conscience. And always give him thanks and praise that he saved and paid the price for a wicked sinner like me. Thanks be unto his name. Let's pray. Our Father and our God in heaven, what can we say this morning beyond what we've seen in this portion of scripture? We stand amazed. We stand amazed because man's effort always fails every single time under whatever dispensation, under whatever kind of circumstance. Man always fails, but where man failed, and where the l- the law failed, and where those animal sacrifices failed, Jesus Christ prevailed. And we fall down in worship of him this morning, O Father. He is that lamb that was slain for us. He's that lamb that shed his blood to wash away our sins, to take away the sin of the world. O Father, please, there's got to be somebody in this room this morning. There's got to be somebody that is yet to enjoy that salvation, that is yet to enjoy, enjoy that assurance, that absolute certainty, that I know if I were to die before my next breath, that I would immediately be in the presence of God, not because of what I've done, but because of his mercy shown to me through the sacrifice of his son, the Lord Jesus. And us as believers, Father, help us to break away from that law mixed in with grace that beats us down and is a constant reminder to us of how we've sinned and a reminder to us of those sins that you've forgiven and put away. Help us, Father, to put them away as well, to confess our sins, to keep our conscience purged and cleansed and guiltless before you. That's what you want. That's what the sacrifice of Christ accomplished. Let us not be beguiled by men, even good men, that want to tell us that. For let us rejoice in our Savior and the great salvation he won for us on the cross of Calvary. Do all these things, O Father, for your name's sake and for your glory, for we pray them through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen. Turn to number one seventy five. As Mark was