Christ's sacrifice is presented as a once-for-all atonement for sin, contrasting with the yearly sacrifices of the Old Testament Day of Atonement. The two goats in Leviticus 16 symbolize different aspects of Christ's work: one representing God's satisfaction with the sacrifice and the other representing the removal of sins to a place of separation. This imagery highlights Christ's perfect sacrifice, His resurrection, and His present intercession in heaven for believers. The sermon emphasizes that through Christ's blood, believers have boldness to enter the holiest place, drawing near to God with a purged conscience and full assurance of faith.
Restored with Diffio
Audio restored with Diffio. Diffio processed the original archive recording to reduce noise and produce a cleaner listening version; the original stays available.
Speech quality score (model-estimated, SCOREQ): before 2.05 → restored 4.58
you often have suffered since the foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Now this is the past appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, his first advent when he came to put away sin. And last night we were noticing the significance of the word once. He appeared once to put away sin. He was offered once, and he suffered once.
And then the result of that is that the sinner who trusts Christ as a personal Savior, the one who comes to Christ, only needs to be purged once. and the result of that is that he is sanctified or set apart for God and he is perfected forever and then there is no more conscience of sin no more offering no more remembrance and on the part of the person who is saved no more guilty conscience because the sin question has been perfectly righteously and eternally dealt with by God.
And that's the benefit which we receive. Now tonight we're going to go on into verse twenty-four. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the truth, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Now we mentioned that each one of these words appear has a special meaning and in keeping with the appearance. And this word appear means to exhibit in person or to reveal in writing.
Now of course to reveal in writing wouldn't be in keeping with his present appearing and so it is to exhibit in person. Now just as his past appearing was by way of incarnation, and it was for the purpose of crucifixion, he came with a specific intent of going to the cross and there giving himself, offering himself as a sacrifice for our sin. Now this second appearing, the present appearing of the Lord now, was dependent upon his resurrection and his attention.
And that we're going to look at in connection with this. But now in leading up to that, you'll notice that in verse twenty-five we have the words as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others. And then in chapter ten in verse one we have 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 there unto perfect and in both of these verses we have a reference to a yearly sacrifice a year by year sacrifice not offering oftentimes daily, the same day standing daily, but this is something that happens once a year, and it has a reference to the day of atonement.
And we're going to go back tonight to Leviticus chapter sixteen and just get a little picture of that and with a thought that connects up with his resurrection. Leviticus chapter sixteen is and first of all we'll read verse thirty four that's the last verse in the chapter because we have this once a year in this verse year by year continually as we have been reading in Hebrews and this shall be an everlasting statute unto you to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year and he did as the Lord commanded Moses.
So you see what we have in Leviticus chapter sixteen is the same thing that is referred to in Hebrews in connection with the year by year. And it is the day of atonement and was to be done as once a year throughout their generations. Now look again at chapter sixteen. We're not going to read any more than we have to. We trust that you're familiar with part of this, but if you're not, we're going to read only that which is in keeping with our purpose. Verse five, and he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the ghost for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.
Now you'll notice in this verse we have a reference to two kids of the ghost. There are two ghosts, but he only speaks of them as a sin offering. They were not both killed, but it takes both of these to present both sides of the work of Christ as a sin offering on our behalf. There were two kids of the ghost, but they were not two different sacrifices. They simply together present two sides, bring before us two aspects of truth of the one sin offering.
Verse six, And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself and for his house, and he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats. One lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. Now you'll notice that one of these goats is the Lord's Lots. And that brings before us the importance of the sin offering God's work.
You see, we are so self-centered by nature, and oftentimes as Christians, we don't get much further than to think only of what the sacrificial work of Christ means to me. We do not think of what God gets out of it so much as we think of what we get out of, our benefits. But the truth of the matter is that it's more important that which God gets than it is that which we get.
And we could get nothing at all unless God got his portion first. And so the lot that fell upon the head of the goat for the Lord's fortune would speak to us of that which the sacrifice is God-word. And then the other goat speaks of the benefits man-word. So that's the reason that it takes these two goats to bring before us this truth in its completeness. Now, verse nine. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lock fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
But the goat on which the lock fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. Now one of these goats was to be sacrificed upon the altar. That is, one of these goats was to be slain. to forfeit its life. The other goat was to be let go in the wilderness. And in verse twenty-one, Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat. Now the laying on of hands, in connection with these sacrifices in the Old Testament, suggests at least two truths that are right on the surface.
To lay the hand upon the head of the sacrifice was first of all to be identified with the sacrifice. The offerer and the sacrifice become one. Identification. And that in itself too was an expression of faith in the sacrifice. Identification with and faith in the sacrifice. And this was in connection with our sin. Now look. And confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel.
And all their transgression in all their sins. Putting them upon the head of the ghost. Putting them upon the head of the ghost. Now the sins of the people then. were transferred from themselves to the goat. It's like in Isaiah fifty three. We have the Lord, the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. The sins were laid upon the goat.
And mind you, it was all of the sins, not part of them. We have the words All three times in this verse. All, all, all. It was a complete offering or substitution, rather, for the sin, the transferring of the sin. And shall send him away by the hand of a fifth man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited, and he shall let go the goat into the wilderness.
Now this word not in these two words not inhabited in my origin it says of separation, a land of separation. And there's another translation that says a solitary place. Uninhabited. And so that brings before us the fact of the putting away of our sins. Now this was based upon the death of the first ghost. There could be no putting away of our sins except God righteously judged them.
And his portion was that his righteousness was manifested and vindicated when the judgment fell upon his portion, the lot that fell upon the goat for the Lord's portion. And upon the basis of that, our sins have been taken away into a land uninhabited, into a solitary place, into a place of separation, never to be seen and never to be remembered again. And that's what happened when Christ died for our sins.
Now we see that whole thing in the work of Christ as he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. And so you can see how those two offerings, those two goats, picture two sides of truth in connection with one. sin offering, a sin offering. And they are typical of Christ. But you'll notice that this scope was to be taken away by the hand of a fit man. Now I wouldn't say that this fit man is a type. There are many things in the Old Testament that are definitely typical without a shadow of a doubt.
And they are so used But we also have in the Old Testament many things that are simply pictures or reminders of, not as God would use them typically, but as we can look upon them as a picture or a reminder of certain truths in the New Testament. So we think of these two goats as being typical of the work of Christ. But I don't think that we're going too far. if we simply look upon this fit man as a reminder of the person of Christ. He's a fit man.
Now, if you have a margin, you'll probably notice that this word fit is rendered a man in readiness or timely. There was a man of opportunity. One translation gives. Now that reminds us of the person of Christ. He was a fit man. He was a man in readiness. What did we read in Hebrews ten five the other night? A body hath thou prepared me, and the margin is, with a body hath thou fedded me. He had to become man in order to be fitted for the work of Calvary.
We have emphasized that before. In his pre-incarnate deity, he could not die. So in order to die, he had to be born and take upon him humanity that through death he might destroy him that has the power of death, that is the devil, and to deliver those who all their lifetime were subject to bondage through fear of death. So the Lord Jesus Christ is a fifth man. He hath been fitted through His incarnation for the work that He was to do. A body hath thou prepared me, but He was also a man of readiness.
Someone quoted Sunday or during these meetings in prayer and referred to what Isaiah said in Isaiah six as, Here am I, send me and apply them to Christ, and that's right. The Lord Jesus Christ in heaven, he was in readiness to come down to this earth to accomplish this purpose. And it says in Galatians four, four, when the fullness of the times was come, God sent forth his son. Made of a woman, there's his fitness, his humanity, made under the law, and he came to redeem those who were under the law.
He came to redeem. So the Lord Jesus is the fit man. He's fit in every way. He was fit to bear our sins because in him was no sin and is no sin. And he did no sin. And he was a man who was ready to fulfill that purpose when the time came. And you know that several times when the Jews tried to take the Lord, it says his hour was not yet come. But when the time did come, for the Lord Jesus Christ to go to the cross, and those Greeks said, Sir, we would see Jesus, and Philip and Andrew tell Jesus, the Lord Jesus says, The hour is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified.
And then he brings before us those wonderful words, except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die. It abideth alone. The hour was come. So when the foes of the time was come, God sent forth his son. And when his hour was come, he was ready and willing to go to the cross and to die for our sins. But it's in the goat that we see the sin aspect. It's in the fifth person that we see the person aspect. Now look down to verse twenty-six. And he that let go of the goat, for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water and afterward come into the camp.
He that let go the boat afterwards come into the camp. You see, the fifth man came back. But he didn't come back as a scapegoat. He came back as the fifth man. And in the second chapter of the book of Acts, I think we better read this, Acts chapter two, where Peter, preaching the first message of this dispensation, emphasizes the resurrection of Christ. He certainly speaks of his death, but he brings before them the fact of his resurrection in Acts chapter two and verse twenty three, and him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slayed."
There is his death. Whom God hath raised up. There is his resurrection. The fifth man came back, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be whole in a bit. Now down in verse twenty seven we have a quotation from Psalm sixteen. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither will thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. The Lord Jesus Christ wasn't in that grave long enough to corrupt. And his body in itself was sinless.
Anyhow. But the point is it was not possible that he should be holding of it. Now the it goes back to the dead. It was not possible that he should be held in or by death. And God did not suffer his holy one to see corruption. What happened? When he accomplished the purpose, according to God's precious word, He raised Him from the dead. He came back. Now that was necessary. If the Lord Jesus Christ had never risen from the dead, He could never be appearing in the presence of God for us now.
The first step in that direction was that He rose again from among the dead. Now go to the twenty-fourth chapter of Luke. Luke twenty four and verse thirty six. And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and afraid it. And suppose that they had seen a spirit.
Instead of being filled with joy, they were filled with terror. They were terrified and afraid and why were they? Because they thought they'd seen a ghost. Just like people today. A lot of people today are scared. You can get all kinds of wild stories, especially down in the South, about ghosts. ghost walking on fence posts and on bridges and you see them in attics and all over the place. And kids are scared half to death when they tell these ghost stories down there. And they can imagine they see them too. And so these men were terrified and afraid of supposing they had seen a ghost.
And the word ghost and spirit are exactly the same. Some places the same word is translated spirit, some places ghost. And so... The Lord said unto them in verse thirty-eight, Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your heart? Behold, my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me has. Now just keep this place and turn to first John. The first epistle of John chapter one and verse one.
We have very similar language. But this is not after his resurrection. This is in his life. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, and which we have looked upon. and our hands have handled of the word of life. Now the reason that this was written and other things in this epistle is because of a common teaching among the Gnostics called Gnosticism.
There were two different main branches of them. One group denied the humanity of Christ. The other group denied the deity of Christ, and yet they were all Gnostics, and many of them took their place among the Christians and had beliefs like this. And this is written because of those who denied the reality of the human body of Christ. And they said that if you were to feel him or try to touch him, it would just be thin air, that he just appeared to have a body, but he didn't have.
He was only a spirit. And so this scripture says, we have heard, we have seen our hands of handles of the word of life. You see, that just knocks the crop right out from under that kind of teaching. Not only could he be seen and heard, they believe that. But they said he couldn't be handled. And so the divinely inspired apostle Tazar hands of handle of the word of life. And the one who wrote this also knew what it was to rest his head on his bosom too, didn't he?
He was the disciple whom Jesus loved. Now look at John chapter, first John chapter four and verse one. First John four one. I didn't mean to imply that the Lord only loved John, but it seems like John was the only one who really fully appreciated it and understood it. He referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. He was enjoying that love. The Lord loved all of them, but they weren't enjoying it like John was. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. That Jesus Christ is what? Is come in the flesh. Now today we have to spend most of our time proving the deity of Christ. But in that day they had to prove the humanity of Christ. They were denying his humanity. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, that is, they deny his humanity, is not of God.
And this is that spirit of Antichrist. And so you see, Christ was his humanity, was as real as his deity, our hands have handled, and he must be real as to his humanity. And he was. And this proves it, as well as innumerable other scriptures. But nevertheless, in Colossians, where you have this teaching taken up most thoroughly of any book in the New Testament, it says in Colossians that he was put to death in the flesh. Bringing before us that it was the flesh of Christ, his real humanity that was necessary.
in order for him to be a sacrifice for our sins. But now go back to Luke twenty four. And you know, they had already heard him. They had seen him. They supposed that they had seen the Spirit. They saw Christ. They could see him. And he said unto them, They heard him. And they heard him say, Behold my hands and my feet. Now there were the evidences of Calvary. Those were the evidences of the reality of his resurrection. The very same person that was nailed to the cross was now standing in their midst.
Behold, my hands and my feet handle me, and he could be handled. When was this after his resurrection? Now it seems to be the chief aim of many today, not to deny his humanity, but to deny his deity, and one of the worst costs in America today. Deny the deity of Christ, and that's one of their cardinal doctrines of denial, is the deity of Christ, and they say he was the highest of all created beings, but that he was only a God, not the God.
But then when it comes to his resurrection, they deny his resurrection. They deny completely the bodily resurrection of Christ that His body did not come forth from the grave, and there are a lot of men in the pulpit of churches in America today who do not belong to that cult and wouldn't think of belonging to them, and they preach and teach the very same thing. There was a questionnaire sent out a few years ago. to a number of divinity students so called, men who were going to occupy pulpits in America, men in seminaries, men in Bible schools, and one of the questions that they asked them, do you believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ?
And they got answers back, and the overwhelming majority did not believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ. Some of them said, not settled on the question. Others said, no. And some put in a notation, what difference does it make? It's a borderline question. A borderline question. It makes the difference between heaven and hell for the believer in Christ. That's how much difference it makes. And the Lord knew that people would deny that. And so he says, Hand on me. A spirit hath not flesh and bones.
You didn't say flesh and blood. Why? He shed his blood. And the life of the natural body is in the blood. But this is a supernatural body. This is a spiritual body. And in First Corinthians, where we have the resurrection chapter so thoroughly gone into, flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But here is Christ come forth in a glorified body that could be seen, heard, handled, and he could eat before them, and he called it a body of flesh and bones. A real body that could be handled. And yet, a body that circumstances...
had nothing to, had no control over whatsoever as far and barriers that he was in their midst and the doors were shut, locked. And on the Mount of Transfiguration he went up from heaven without any jet propulsion or any such thing as they have to have now. He had a glorified body, but he came out of that grave, handle me and see. Well, what happened after he came out of the body? Well, he accompanied with his disciples for many days, and then in verse fifty-one it says, It came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
Acts chapter twenty and verse fourteen, I think we ought to just take time to look at this. Acts twenty and verse fourteen. And when he met with us at Asos, he took him in and came to Malikam. Now you may think there's no connection, but there is. These four words, we took him in. Now you'll notice in our verse here, it says carried up into heaven.
And this means received up. Or, it's the same word, we took him in. Now, the reason I'm emphasizing that is, when that mob walked by the cross, the multitudes walked by the cross, in Matthew twenty-seven, they that passed by revile him. And one of the things that they said is, they questioned, if God will have him. And here we have he was received up into heaven.
God took him in. Men wouldn't have him. And they said God wouldn't have him. That's what they meant. If God will have him. But God took him in. And he took him right up into heaven. But so you see it says he was carried up into heaven. He was taken up. They took him in to heaven. God was glad. God the Father was glad in all heaven I'm sure rejoiced when the Lord Jesus went back to heaven now into heaven what did we read in Hebrews nine twenty four Hebrews nine verse twenty four for Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands which are the figures of the true but into heaven itself he was taken up into caught up into heaven into heaven itself now and that's where he is today now to appear in the presence of God for us now
turn to chapter seven Hebrews seven and verse nineteen for the law made nothing perfect I suppose we should read verse eleven because it has to do now not with the sacrifice but with the priesthood if therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood for under if the people received the law what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek and not be called after the order of error.
Now that's a good question. If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, why another priest? Why should Christ be raised up as a priest? Well, the answer is in verse nineteen. For the law made nothing perfect. Perfection was not by the Levitical priesthood. Or any other part of the law. The law made nothing perfect. But the bringing in of a better hope did. Now regardless of how you read this, we have the better hope. Whether it's the bringing in of a better hope or whether the bringing in of a better hope did. The Lord Jesus Christ is our hope.
And it says so in First Timothy one one. Lord Jesus Christ which is our hope. Christ is the one that's referred to here in connection with a better hope. And what is the result of that? By the which we draw nigh unto God. Now the contrast is in chapter nine and verse eight. The Holy Ghost, verse seven. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year. That's what we've been seeing over in Leviticus. Not without blood. which he offered for himself and for the heirs of the people.
The Holy Ghost, this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was standing. Now that is just saying plainly that the way that we say under the law through the Levitical priesthood there could be no drawing near to God. Only the high priest went once a year into the Holy of Holies. The law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of the better hope did, by which we draw nigh unto God. Now under the old system, it was distant, not nearness.
Now turn to chapter ten and verse twenty. Verse nineteen. Having therefore brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Quite a contrast, didn't it? Boldness to enter where? Into the holiest on what grounds the blood of Jesus? By having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh, and having an high priest over the house of God let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our heart sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
The heart sprinkled from an evil conscience is a purged conscience, who we read about last night. And that was the result of the application of the blood of Christ. And our bodies washed with pure water is simply symbolic of regeneration. And so a purged, redeemed, regenerated people have a great high priest. And that high priest shed his blood. And we can draw nearer into the holiest anytime we want to. the way has been opened, by the which we draw an eye unto God. Now we're going to close time tonight to sing that fourth verse of hymn number one, forty-three.
And Lord willing, we'll take up right here tomorrow night. And whoever prays will have more than a minute tonight to pray in. We won't say like we did to Harold. Harold, you have one minute to close this meeting in prayer. In number one, forty-three, verse four, then afterward we'll ask our brother Inhofe to close in prayer.