Chapter 9:11-15

“¹¹ But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹² Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? ¹⁵ And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”

Last week, we made the point that the Law, the Old Testament Law, was not enough to save anyone. In Hebrews 9:9, we are told that sacrifices and gifts could not make the giver perfect. Perfection is what is required by God so that He can fellowship with us. Since we are born with a sin nature, it is impossible for us to be perfect and please God. A few pastor friends of mine and I are in the process of reading through the entire Bible in 90 days. Right now, we are reading in the Torah, and not too long ago, I read through the Torah myself. When one takes the time to tally the number of sacrifices that were required by God to cover man’s sins, and that cover was just for Israel, it is astonishing. If you will take the time to read through Numbers 28, you will see the requirements for the sacrifices. Just for an example, here is Numbers 28:1-8 (CEV):

The Lord told Moses to say to the people of Israel: Offer sacrifices to me at the appointed times of worship, so that I will smell the smoke and be pleased. Each day offer two rams a year old as sacrifices to please me. The animals must have nothing wrong with them; one will be sacrificed in the morning, and the other in the evening. Along with each of them, one kilogram of your finest flour mixed with a liter of olive oil must be offered as a grain sacrifice. This sacrifice to please me was first offered at Mount Sinai. Finally, along with each of these two sacrifices, a liter of wine must be poured on the altar as a drink offering. The second ram will be sacrificed that evening, along with the other offerings, just like the one sacrificed that morning. The smell of the smoke from these sacrifices will please me.”

Now, if we take just the required daily sacrifices, they were 2 per day; one at 9 am and one at 3 pm, called the morning and evening sacrifices. From the time that the Torah was given to the time of Jesus was about 1,500 years. The Jews operated on a 360 calendar, so 720 animals per year over the course of 1,500 years was 1,000,000 animals just for this one required sacrifice. Then there was the Passover, the Day of Atonement, the Wedding Feast, the Feast of Trumpets, then individual people had to offer sacrifices for their own sins. You can see the amount of bloodshed that was required to satisfy God’s perfection.

• Jesus offered His Own Blood, verse 12

Jesus came and put a stop to the need for millions of animals to die by offering His own blood as a payment for our sins. As our High Priest, He would have offered His blood to God as the full payment for our sins and stopped the ritual killing of millions of innocent animals. Jesus’ blood was enough because He, like God His Father, was perfect. So God the Father took the offering of perfect blood as enough to completely wipe out the sin debt of ALL people who put their faith and trust in Jesus as Savior. His perfection is transferred to us forever, and it cannot ever be revoked. You and I, children of God, are justified, declared righteous (Romans 5:1), and then we are no longer under condemnation or judgment, according to Romans 8:1.

• Now we can Serve God, verse 14

Now that we are truly washed in the blood of Jesus, we can serve God. There is a sect of ‘Christians’ that deny the need for a blood sacrifice. They claim that this kind of requirement is too base and too cruel for a loving God. They are lost, not saved, and in need of redemption. If one does not trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, that person is not saved.

Romans 10: 9-10, (MEV)

“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, for with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Notice that one has to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. Thus, Jesus had to die to be raised from the dead. People keep trying to change the Gospel, but Paul tells us not to listen, not even if it looks like an angel. Only the Gospel we have about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection is true. All else are lies from Hell. See Galatians 1:8 (NKJV):

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”

• Eternal Life, verse 15

We have an eternal inheritance in Jesus. Just a few minutes ago, I heard a man online trying to show why we cannot have ‘once saved, always saved.’ These folks think we can get our salvation by faith but keep it by works. What rubbish. We are saved and preserved by Jesus. When Jesus talked about losing Judas in John 17:12, called the ‘son of perdition’, the understanding is that Judas was never saved. He is called a devil in John 6: 70-71:

“Jesus answered them, ‘Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!’ He was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For although Judas was one of the Twelve, he was later to betray Jesus” (Berean Study Bible).

Judas was selected to show us that one can do all the things like saved people and not be saved. You can attend meetings, even perform miracles and hold office (Judas was the Treasurer), but without faith and trust in Jesus as the Messiah, you are lost. I mentioned last week that one of the primary jobs of the true New Testament churches is to protect and proclaim the Gospel. The purity of the Gospel is essential. Without it, people who think they are saved go to Hell.

Lord, please have mercy on us. The end is near; make sure that you are saved and that those you love hear the true, pure, unadulterated Gospel. Jesus is the ONLY WAY, TRUTH, and LIFE.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca

Chapter 9:1-10

“Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. ² For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; ³ and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, ⁴ which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; ⁵ and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

⁶ Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. ⁷ But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; ⁸ the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. ⁹ It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— ¹⁰ concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation” (NKJV).

Happy New Year to you all. I pray that all is well with you. We had a busy time, as I am sure most families did. And, to top it off, my wife and I became quite ill over the New Year’s weekend, and we are both still gradually getting over the illness. God is good, and He continues to make Himself known to us and shows us His love and care. I pray that you are seeing Him as well in your life and that you are more confident in your faith from day to day.

The last lesson we looked at, before the Christmas one, was about the New Covenant written in our hearts when we receive the Holy Spirit. God puts His Spirit in us, and He constantly reminds us of what is right and good, reminds us of God’s character, and is in the process of forming the person of Christ in us.

Galatians 4:18-19, NKJV “Nevertheless, it is good to be zealous if it serves a noble purpose—at any time, and not only when I am with you. My children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…”

• The Tedious Tabernacle, verses 1-5

When one takes the time (and I am reading through the book of Exodus right now with a group of other pastors as we read through the Bible in 90 days) to see the intricate details laid out about the Tabernacle and its details: how to make the wood, the curtains, the tables, and the Ark of the Covenant, when we see the very costly materials that were necessary to make the covering and the utensils, we can see that the Tabernacle was unique in its construction. It took hundreds of people to care for it and transport it as the Jews made their way through the Wilderness. It was burdensome and required constant care, required one to watch it and the Priests to make sure that the things in it were ceremonially clean and ready to be used by God all the time. It was a tedious task, one that required hundreds and hundreds of man-hours to make it all work.

• The Tarnished Priests verses 6-7

The priests were all flawed men at best. Aaron was the first to fashion an idol for the people to worship when Moses stayed too long on the mountain while getting the Law. These human priests had to offer sacrifices for themselves before they could intercede on behalf of the people. These men struggled with their flesh. In contrast, Jesus is our Perfect priest. He never sinned, never failed, and never erred – not even once. We are told this in 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV):

“God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

These men could not save us eternally with all their sacrifices. The Old Testament saints were never saved by observing the Law. They were saved when they believed the promises of God; they looked forward to our Messiah. They did perform the observances and ordinances of the Law in submissive obedience to the Lord but never to earn salvation. One CANNOT earn the gift of eternal life. Abraham, we are told, believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. He is the father of all who believe in Jesus as Savior.

• The Temporary Fix, verses 8-10

The Holy Spirit, we are told, indicates to us that the tedious works of the law and the tarnished men working as priests could not get the participants permanent perfection. The annual sacrifices on the Day of Atonement, the time when the High Priest would enter the inner part of the Tabernacle, were only good until the next year when the ritual had to be performed once again. The daily sacrifices were temporary fixes that appeased a righteous God for a time.

Their rituals, these laws and their observances, were not able to save the participant or able to make him or her perfect. This is what is required – perfection (see verse 9). We are told that these laws could not make one ‘perfect in regard to the conscience.’ The law cannot make you and me perfect. The endless sacrifices could not make you and me perfect. God requires perfection for Him to fellowship with anyone. The temporary sacrifices covered the sins of the people temporarily; even the Passover had to be re-enacted yearly.

In verse 10, we are told that these rituals were there until a certain time happened. Next week, we will look at that time. You may wonder why we seem to be going over this time and time again. Well, Satan knows the importance of the pure Gospel, and he is always at work in every generation, trying to pollute it. One of the main ways that he tries to pollute it is to add works to belief in salvation – one must keep the law to be saved. This is heresy, and it is important that we refute and debunk this so that people can truly be saved.

The purity of the Gospel is the number one responsibility of the local church. Without it, we are powerless.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca