Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Hebrews 9 | Date: March 28, 2021 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Singing was a blessing this morning. I enjoyed singing those psalms—Psalm 148, Psalm 46. Usually, if we sing Psalm 46, it’s Luther’s rendering of it, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” This one was wonderful from the Psalter. And then Psalm 72. I appreciate the work that all of the music team does. We don’t mention that nearly often enough. They go to a lot of work for the rest of us, and it’s a blessing each Sunday morning the way they minister to us. I’d like to encourage you to be back this evening for what they’ve prepared for us for our annual Sunday evening sing.

Hebrews chapter 9. I want to look this morning at Hebrews 9 and 10. We’re continuing our series on the doctrine of salvation. Here we’re dealing with redemption accomplished in Christ. We looked once at the sending of the Son and His saving mission—mission accomplished. And then we looked last time at a theology of sacrifice, trying to trace it just quickly, highlighting it through the Bible and to discern its meaning. And as I mentioned last time, I want to look today at Hebrews 9 and 10 to see where the inspired writer here deals with that in particular, comparing the redemptive or the sacrificial work of Christ to the Old Testament sacrifices.

I’d like to take time to read Hebrews 9 and 10, but for time’s sake, I think I will just read chapter 9 for now, but we will get to chapter 10 as we move along. Hebrews 9, beginning with verse 1:

Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with 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 that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purifying of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at the death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, this is a wonderful passage of Scripture with a theme that is just so necessary for all of us. We pray that through it, You’ll give us a greater appreciation, a greater understanding of the gospel. And we pray that through it all again, You would direct our faith more firmly to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is all of our hope. We pray in His name, amen.

The occasion of this letter to the Hebrews, as you may know, is that we have here the inspired writer—who’s unnamed, we don’t know who it was, though obviously at least a close associate of the apostles, Paul in particular—but he’s writing to a Jewish congregation. These Jewish believers are Jews who have come to Christ and acknowledge Him as Savior, but they’re tempted to go back. They’ve been pressured in various ways to go back. There are indications in some of the chapters about the persecution they have received for becoming a Christian, and they’re tempted now to go back.

They had worshipped previously in the synagogues. They had a temple in which sacrifice was offered. Previously, of course, in the older days, it was the tabernacle. The significance of the tabernacle and the significance of the temple is just enormous. It signified—it’s not just a place to go to church like we do—it signified the presence of God. And in that inner room, in the Most Holy Place, it was the throne room of God. It is where He dwelled in a special presence amidst the people of Israel. And so it was an enormously important place, significant for their worship.

It was a massively impressive structure. It was ornately decorated. It had gold. It had brilliant colors. There was with that the smell of incense, the smell of the sacrifice. It must have been a very stimulating thing just to the senses to participate in that worship. It gave the worshiper something to do, something to offer. And with all of that grandioseness of the temple itself and its great significance, and all of that that must have been so stimulating to the senses, now you have these believers who have left all of that behind and they’re meeting in a little house church with a handful of people and being told that this is better.

You can imagine, in the back of some of their minds, as they’re being persecuted, as they’re being mocked for their new faith—for leaving such an obviously well-established faith behind them to go for this new way—they must have wondered, some of them, “Is this really right? Should we go back?” And the writer of this letter to the Hebrews writes, as he calls it in chapter 13, a word of exhortation to stay with it, to remain faithful, and to look to Christ.

He does that through a long series of theological arguments, primarily in which he compares what Christ is and what He has done against the backdrop of the Old Testament. The long and short of it all is: all of that was just a picture. It symbolized something that is brought about now in reality in Christ.

He sets the theme for us, if you’d like to look at chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. This is really a snapshot of the entire letter: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” You see the idea of escalation there. God spoke to us before; yes, He did. It was a divinely given religion; yes, it was. And He spoke to us, but He spoke in piecemeal. The prophets came, and one would say this, another would say that, and we received this much revelation, a little more revelation, here, there, a little more, and it was gradually building. But now God has spoken to us by no less than His own Son. He has spoken to us climactically in Jesus. This is the capstone of it all. And there he sets the tone with what he will argue through the rest of the book.

And through all of the book, we find words like “better,” “how much more,” “greater,” and “more perfect.” He compares Jesus to the Old Testament prophets; He compares Him to the angels; He compares Him to Moses; He compares Jesus’ sacrifice to the old sacrifice, and the priesthood of Jesus to the old priesthood. He’s saying Jesus is a better priest, Jesus is a better prophet, Jesus is a greater sacrifice, and we have a better covenant with better promises. All through the book he’s arguing this word of exhortation: stay faithful, because Jesus is better.

Well, that in long and short is the argument of the whole book. When we get to chapters 5 through 10, the writer is emphasizing specifically Jesus’ superior priesthood. And with that, there’s a strong emphasis, as we’ll see this morning, on the temporary character of the old system. In chapter 7, we have the new and better priesthood grounded in a new and better covenant, a new and better law. And we have some expressions like in chapter 8, verse 13, that old system was “obsolete.” It’s “vanishing away.” Chapter 10, verse 9: God “abolishes the first in order to establish the second.” That is, Jesus replaces that old system.

So he’s telling us repeatedly throughout this letter that the old system was just prospective; it was anticipatory of what is now realized in Jesus. And so we have here, as we read this morning in chapter 9, verse 9, it was a symbol; it’s symbolic for this present age. Chapter 10, verse 1: it’s a “shadow of the good things to come.” That is, the Old Testament was a picture book dramatizing, throughout those centuries of all of its worship rituals, what would come to pass in reality through the person and the work of Christ. And so the strong message of the book is: Jesus only. He’s all you need. He does it all. And it’s to Him you should be looking. You don’t need that old system of worship.

With that, of course, are thrown in strategically various warning passages through the book. If you go back from this to that, what do you have? You have nothing. Chapter 2, verses 2 and 3 are another kind of summary of the message of the book: “Since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.” If under that system of worship there were penalties, then what will be the penalty of leaving this salvation that has come to us in a climactic way in Jesus?

Right now, as I mentioned, we get to chapter 7 then. We have the superiority of Christ’s priestly work. Chapter 7, he compares Him to the priesthood of Melchizedek, and Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek; it’s better than that of Aaron. Chapter 8, he grounds that in a better covenant, and there he cites at length the Jeremiah prophecy of the New Covenant that would come. And now we come to chapter 9, where he details for us that we have a better sacrifice for sin. And here he gives us an extended comparison and contrast between the old Levitical system and the sacrificial work of Christ.

The Old System: Stay Back

Alright then, chapter 9 in the opening verses, verses 1 to 5 here, we have a description of the Old Covenant tabernacle—a tent structure with a curtain as you go in and a second curtain into the other place, two sections into the tabernacle proper. The room was three times as long as it was wide. The first two-thirds of it were the Holy Place. And then beyond the curtain, in a cube-shaped room, perfectly square, you have the Most Holy Place. And there you have the Ark of the Covenant, overlaid with the mercy seat, and then flanked on each side by the cherubim. This is the place where atonement was made.

In verse 6 now, he tells us then that routine functions of the priests were in that first room, and they would go there daily and do all of the work that they do every day, every day, every day, doing the work that priests do in that first place, the Holy Place. But then verse 7, he tells us, into that second room, that Most Holy Place, there, not the priests, but only the high priest could go, and that would be only once a year, and that only with the proper blood that was to be offered at the sacrifice.

So here you have a room that is so sacred, the dwelling place of God, the throne room of God, no one can go in except for the high priest, and he can go in just once a year, and that only with the proper application of blood. This is the annual Day of Atonement, Leviticus chapter 16. So we have then, verse 7, the annual Day of Atonement. Once a year—I’ll say it again—once a year, the high priest only could go beyond that curtain into the presence of God, and only with the proper sacrifice that was made.

Clearly, this has some symbolic value. It’s teaching us something. What is it? And that’s verse 8. All of this was designed to teach us something. Look at chapter 9, verse 8: “By this, the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened, as long as the first section is still standing.” That is, there’s no way in to the presence of God. And that’s what it was designed to teach. The tabernacle structure—careful entrance into the Holy Place, and then the limited access into the Most Holy Place by only the high priest, and that only once a year with sacrifice—all of that is intended to teach us that the way is not open. It’s closed. The way into God’s presence is not yet open. That’s what he says it’s intended to teach.

Now behind all of that, of course, is a doctrine of divine holiness—the otherness of God, the separateness of God, that He is not like His creature. Add to that the fact that there’s human sin, and the message is: you have no right into God’s presence. Stay back. That’s what it’s designed to teach. Stay back. You have no right to enter God’s presence.

We actually find this reflected many times in the Old Testament in particular. One of the famous ones is in Isaiah chapter 6. You remember Isaiah’s vision of the throne room of heaven. There you have the seraphim there ministering before God, and remember with two of their wings they veil their face. They have no right to look.

We find another example of it at the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. You remember God gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. He called Moses to come up on the mountain. You remember, because this was the presence of God meeting with Moses, it was a sacred place. And so if any man or beast set foot on the mountain, run him through with a spear. Stay back. You have no right. And you remember how the people of Israel responded to all of that: “Moses, you go up. We’ll stay here.” You have no right. Stay back. This is a holy God. You are a sinful people. You have no right into His presence.

We have another lesson of this. You remember when the Ark, the throne of God, was stolen by the Philistines? You remember it was finally put on a cart and sent back to Israel. And the men of Beth Shemesh were just so happy to see it coming, and one of them just, you remember, had to see what was inside, takes a peek, and plague broke out and many people were killed. Never presume. Be very careful. Stay back. You have no right into the presence of God. You might remember later in David’s reign, a cart was being carried and Uzzah put his hand up to stabilize it. You remember that? Dead. Stay back. You have no right.

If you had been a Gentile in that day, wandering into the community of Israel, you would have known immediately that you were not part of this group. As Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2, you’re a stranger to the covenant. All of their practices—and this isn’t for you. Stay back. Now you could proselytize and you could become an Israelite—take the seal of circumcision, declare your loyalty to the law and all of that, become a proselyte—and then you could offer your sacrifices and bring them in. But even then: stay back. You have no right beyond this point.

And even the priests themselves, they can go into that first section, the Holy Place, and do their ministry that they do there, but they can’t go beyond that. Stay back. And even the high priest himself cannot go beyond that curtain into the presence of God, except just once a year. And that only with proper preparations made in their sacrifice. And the whole thing, God says, right here in verse 8, it’s designed to tell you this: stay back. You have no right into the presence of God. That way of access is not open. He is God, and you are a sinful creature. You can’t go there. That’s the point he says in verse 8. Don’t presume. You’re a creature, He’s the Creator; you’re sinful, He is holy—stay back. Not the people, not the Levites, not the priests, not even the high priest, except for once a year. Personal access into God’s presence is not available. That’s what it was designed to teach.

The New Order: The Time Of Reformation

Now what follows then in chapter 9, beginning with verse 9 and all the way through chapter 10, is an extended contrast and then finally some applications of it. He’s saying that was then, but this is now. That was then, that was the old system, but now there’s a new system through Jesus. So look at verses 9 and 10. Speaking of the way closed in verse 8—it’s not open—verse 9: “It is symbolic for the present age. According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.”

It was temporary, it was symbolic, it had no real value at all, it couldn’t cleanse the conscience, it really couldn’t deal with root issues. Until, he says, “the time of reformation.” Now he’s not talking about Martin Luther and John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli and the boys. He’s not talking about the 16th-century Reformation. He’s talking about the great new era introduced by the coming of Christ, where the whole system of worship is reformed and changed through the coming of Christ. And the great change that has appeared has come about through Him.

So verse 11: “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places.” Understand there: into the real, the true Holy Place. “Not by means of blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

Now there in a nutshell is the message of the whole chapter. That old system has given way to what has been fulfilled in Christ. He didn’t go into a tent made with hands that pictures the real presence of God, but he has gone into the real presence of God with His own blood to secure eternal redemption. Not a symbolic redemption, but a real one.

Two Corresponding Tents

Now notice here you have, as I’ve already mentioned, two corresponding tents. Two different tabernacles, or if you will, two different temples. Verse 11, you have the one “of this creation,” and the other, “a more perfect tent, not made with hands, that is not of this creation.” So you have the Old Covenant tent—which at the time of this writing now is a temple itself, but he’s referring to the older tabernacle. You have the older tent, which was symbolic of a true tent, a true place of the presence of God, where the real presence of God is.

Now this is a fascinating point, I think, that’s made several times in this section of the book of Hebrews: that the Mosaic tabernacle was a copy. It was not just symbolic of something, but it in fact was a copy of a reality that is in heaven itself. So beyond that curtain into the Most Holy Place, you have the presence of God symbolized, but all of that is just a picture, a copy of a reality of the presence of God in the heavenly temple.

So let me give you some of the passages here. Look at chapter 8, verse 2: he refers to the “true tabernacle.” Verse 5 of chapter 8: the “copy and shadow of what is in heaven.” Chapter 9, verse 1: the “earthly holy place.” Then verse 23: “copies of the heavenly things.” Verse 24.

Now there are other glimpses of this heavenly temple—the real presence of God—other glimpses of that in the Scriptures as well. One is as I’ve already mentioned, Isaiah chapter 6, with Isaiah’s vision of the temple in heaven where God is there. We have others, like in Revelation chapters 4 and 5, which very famously show the throne room of God where graphically God is presented as the Sovereign on the throne before whom all of the other kings and rulers of the earth worship. He’s clearly the God over all, and that’s the scene then for chapter 5, when the Sovereign holds the scroll in His hand and gives it to the slain Lamb to carry out His purpose. And that then is the setting for all of the drama of the book of Revelation. And we see glimpses of it like in chapter 6 of Revelation, where the saints are bowing under the altar and praying to God for vengeance over their persecutors. We find it in chapter 7 of Revelation, where the martyrs who have been slain in the Great Tribulation stand now in the presence of God in the holy place—in His very presence.

Now keep in mind here the author’s overall point that he’s trying to press throughout the letter, and that is the superiority of Christ. Here the idea is that Old Covenant Holy of Holies, that Most Holy Place—as holy, as sobering as it was to enter that for the high priest once a year, as solemn as that was—that’s just a copy. It’s a copy of what it really is in heaven, in the very presence of God. And when the high priest entered that Most Holy Place on the annual Day of Atonement, it was a very solemn thing, entering the presence of God. And now he tells us: no, that was just a picture. It’s an extended drama to portray the real thing.

And so, verse 11 again here: Christ, by contrast, he entered the real thing. “When Christ appeared as high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent, not made with hands, that is not of this creation,” that is, His atoning work was accepted in heaven itself by God Himself—accepted in heaven.

So there’s the first contrast: the sacrifice was accepted in heaven itself. We’ll come back to that, but keep that in mind. In the very presence of God, Christ’s sacrifice was accepted, not just in some symbolic tent.

The Sacrifice That Christ Offered Was Himself

The second contrast that he gives us here is that the sacrifice that Christ offered was Himself. Look at verse 12: “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

Now here he’s pointing out simply the inferiority of the animal sacrifices that were made. However important they were, whatever purpose they served, when it comes down to it, animal blood is not of sufficient value to atone for a human sin. It’s just not a great enough sacrifice; it’s not a valuable enough sacrifice. It wouldn’t do what it portrayed that it was doing.

But Christ’s sacrifice, he tells us, is of superior value because He didn’t offer the blood of bulls and calves and goats; He offered His own blood. And here he draws on the force of what he expounded at length in Hebrews chapters 1 and 2, where he speaks of the great superiority of Christ and the dignity of His person as God come from heaven—that He is the one who’s greater than the angels, He’s the one whom angels worship, He is the one who became man, the incarnate Son who offered Himself in sacrifice for sin.

And so here we have the Son of God Himself, God incarnate, the God-man, offering Himself, His own blood, in sacrifice for sin. That is of value. And compared to the offering of bulls and goats, that was nothing; it pointed forward to this great sacrifice. And so verses 13 and 14, he reasons that out simply: “If the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

We’ll come back to that on conscience in a minute, but what he’s saying here is that all of that had symbolic value. It would, as it were, “purify the flesh.” But here we have a sacrifice because of its infinitely superior value—it is, after all, the Son of God Himself who has come. Because of its superior value, it actually accomplishes what the old could only symbolize.

So the first contrast then is that His sacrifice was accepted in heaven, not just in an earthly tent. The second contrast is that the sacrifice He offered was not the blood of bulls and goats; it was His own blood.

The Sacrifice Of Christ Was Offered Only Once

And now the third contrast that he offers: the offering of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ, was offered only once. Now, this is an important point for the writer here, and he emphasizes at some length the repetitive nature of the old sacrifices on the one hand, and then on the other hand, the once-for-all sacrifice that was offered by Christ.

So look at chapter 9, verses 6 and 7 again. When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry, but only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year. Only once a year, but it was every year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins of the people.

Chapter 10, verse 11: “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.” Back down to chapter 10, verses 1 to 3: “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.”

Okay, so we have here the Old Testament worshiper portrayed—at least the thinking worshiper—offering these sacrifices and thinking about it. “Why do these sacrifices need to be offered again and again and again and again and again every year?” Again, we have the high priest goes in and offers that sacrifice. Next year, he goes in and offers that sacrifice. Next year, he goes in and offers that sacrifice. Next year—again and again and again, year after year. And at some point, you have to think: if this really does what it says it does, why does it have to be repeated all the time? Its very repetitiveness testifies to its ineffectualness, until the worshiper would have to finally conclude, “This is never going to work. If it could, we could stop offering it.”

And so, he says in verses 2 and 3, their repetitiveness testifies to their ineffectiveness, and in essence, is just a reminder of sin. You see that in verse 3? “The sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.” You go out for the sacrifice, and what are you reminded of? “I’m a sinner.” You offer the sacrifice the next year, what are you reminded of? “I’m a sinner.” And you offer the sacrifice next year—”I’m a sinner.” It’s an annual reminder of sin. Whatever else those sacrifices did, they did not take away sin. The ceremony gave the worshiper something to do. It was a vivid illustration. It might even have been emotionally captivating. But could it really accomplish anything?

All right, that’s the background. Now, by contrast, this writer emphasizes that the sacrifice of Christ, on the other hand, was offered only once. Look again back at chapter 9, verses 11 and 12:

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

Notice that: “once for all.” Chapter 9, verses 23 and following:

Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

And then drop down to chapter 10, verses 10 and following:

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.

His priestly work is done; it is finished. All of this screams of fulfillment, finished completeness, redemption accomplished. Here is a sacrifice that was accepted in heaven itself, not in a symbolic tent, but it was accepted in heaven itself. And if this sacrifice is accepted in heaven itself, what could you ever need to add to it?

Here’s a sacrifice that is of such superior value that it had to be offered only once. Once for all—that’s the word, once for all. He didn’t have to repeat it over and over again, but once and done, He dealt with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Here is a sacrifice that did not symbolize, but actually “secured eternal redemption.” That’s verse 12. It did not symbolize; it actually secured eternal redemption.

That old sacrifice could deal with the cleansing of the flesh and deal with things externally; it couldn’t clear the conscience. Here’s a sacrifice that is of such sufficient value that it cleanses even the conscience, so that when conscience bothers because of sin and reminds you of sin, you think: “No, we have a sacrifice that has dealt with that. It has been accepted by God in heaven itself—the blood, after all, of the Son of God Himself who has come.” And so instead of, under the old system, there being a reminder of sin year after year—every time you offer the sacrifice, a reminder of sin, a reminder of sin—we come to the Lord’s table and we remember a sacrifice once for all, given for sin.

And here is a sacrifice, he tells us, that has secured—did not symbolize, it secured—our entrance into the presence of God. I want you to see that’s the application that the writer himself draws from this in chapter 10, verses 19 and following. Chapter 10, verse 19:

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

This is an altogether new way of approach to God. Christ has gained access for us into the very presence of God Himself. Notice that, verse 20: “by his blood.” Notice the imagery: “through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.” You see the symbolism? He had that curtain on the back wall of the Holy Place, through which was entrance into the Most Holy Place. He had to go through there to get into the presence of God. Here he says that curtain was the crucified body of Jesus. And through the crucified Christ, we enter now into the very presence of God. We have access through Him.

So what a contrast this is. You’ve got the old system that just screamed, “Stay back, stay back, stay back, stay back. You have no right.” And now through Jesus, we have access beyond the curtain ourselves—not through some priest, but through our great high priest, Jesus Himself. He has brought us, as you’ve heard me say it so many times before, piggyback on His shoulders into the very presence of God.

We don’t need any other priest but Jesus. He has ushered us into the presence of God. This is what the Reformers of the 16th century found so offensive about the Roman Catholic teaching of priesthood and prayers to the saints. What an affront to the sufficiency of the work of Christ. This is not some governmental bureaucracy where you call ahead and make an appointment, and you meet the receptionist, and then a secretary, and then a low-level bureaucrat, and a high-level bureaucrat, and finally, after some appointments, you make your way to the top. This is nothing like that at all. We have, through Jesus, entrance ourselves into the very presence of God.

This is enormously important. You might be one of those humble, timid souls. You think you’re not important enough. You think you’re not good enough and you’re hesitant to bring your little concerns to God. The whole message of chapters 9 and 10 here is to say you have access wide open into the presence of God yourself through the crucified and risen Christ.

I want you to see it again. That’s the application—I’m not coming up with this on my own. That’s the application the inspired writer gives in verses 19 and following: “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter into the holy places by the blood of Jesus… let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” That is, he’s saying simply: be emboldened in faith through Christ to enter into the presence of God. You don’t go to God pretending. You don’t have to pretend that you’ve done well enough. You go in frankly confessing sin but saying, “I have what I need in the once-for-all sacrifice of the Son of God who has brought me into heaven itself.”

In fact, it is just when we fear that we perhaps have sinned away our privileges that we need to recall with repentance, yes, but with grateful faith, that Jesus has offered a once-for-all sacrifice for sin. And I have through Him a wide-open entrance and acceptance into God’s presence.

This wonderful gospel is intended to shape the way we think. It is intended to give us confidence, boldness, and assurance of faith that my standing with God is good. I have an entrance and I’m accepted before Him. And the whole message of this is here: Christian, you have just the sacrifice you need. Here is real atonement for all of your sins, and by which we have access to God Himself. Amen.

Let’s pray. Our Father, what a glorious truth. How privileged we are to live this side of the cross and to have this kind of confidence, assurance, and boldness before You. How privileged we are to look back and see an all-sufficient Savior come from heaven who offered that perfect once-for-all sacrifice for our sins. Lord, I pray that You would cause the hearts of all of Your people to rejoice in this daily. Give us great confidence in Christ. In His name we ask, amen.