Amen. Please remain standing and take your Bibles and turn to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. It is out of respect and adoration for the living and true God that we stand as we read his word. Hebrews chapter 13. I will read from verse 7 down through verse 16 of that chapter. Hear now the word of the living God to you this morning. Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you, and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp. Therefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach, for here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. Through him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name. Do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Let us pray. Most gracious Heavenly Father, we ask this morning that you would bestow upon us your Holy Spirit, and that that Spirit would enlighten our minds and open our hearts to see wonderful things. to embrace wonderful things, that we might see the Lord Jesus Christ in these verses, that we might follow the Lord Jesus Christ as a result of seeing His glory and majesty. O Lord, we pray that You would strengthen those here who are saved. Lord, that You would call those who are backslidden Lord, to faithfulness, that You would stir up within them obedience and faith. And Lord, we pray for those that may be here that know not the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, that You would have mercy upon them, and that You would open their eyes, and that You would give them the strength they need to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. We pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen. You may be seated. We are, in these seven verses, motivated to continual praise, good works, and sharing. Because these are the sacrifices that are pleasing to God, the Bible says. The writer of Hebrews has previously in his epistle motivated these Hebrew Christians by explaining to them that embracing Christ as God's Messiah His promised Redeemer that they have given up absolutely nothing and gained everything. And that's the message for us this morning. Brothers and sisters, you must ask yourself this morning, what have you given up for Christ's sake? What have you given up? to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. What have you given up to seek first His kingdom and righteousness? Well, I'm here to tell you this morning, you've given up nothing. But you've gained it all to have the Lord Jesus Christ. You've given up absolutely nothing. There is nothing in a man or woman's previous life that is even worthy of mention of the glory and the benefit of the Lord Jesus. How many times have you explained your Christianity to a friend, and the first thing you started off with is all the things you had to give up? We've all done it, have we not? But I'm here to tell you, this passage of Scripture this morning teaches us that we've given up nothing, but we have gained it all in Christ. You know, that's a change of mindset, isn't it? You know, most Christians don't view it in those terms, and we've got to understand that when it comes to embracing the Lord Jesus Christ, what do we lack as Christians? What do you lack, beloved? What is it you think you lack in this life? Though you have Christ and have everything. You have all the wisdom of heaven and earth wrapped up in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says that Jesus is the storehouse and the treasure of all God's wisdom and knowledge and understanding is found in Him. And that's what you have if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you put your faith and trust in Him, you have Christ. What have you lost? What have you lost to serve Him as Master? What have you given up? What have you forsaken? What is it worth not to follow this Christ? I'm here to tell you this morning, only Christians have Christ. The Jews don't have Him. The Muslims don't have Him. Buddhism doesn't have Him, doesn't preach Him. All of the other isms, all of the other, the Mormons, the Jehovah Witnesses, everything else cannot make the claim that we're making right now. That is, we have all of the eternal, glorious, blessedness found in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we have eternal life and everlasting salvation. We're the only ones that can claim it. Brothers and sisters, we have the Lord Jesus. Our focus this morning will be in verse 10, down through verse 16. And that's exactly what the author says in verse 10. Notice how emphatically he states, we have an altar. Of course, I'm going to explain that in just a little bit. We have an altar. We have a place of sacrifice. We have a glorious altar, a divine altar, an altar that actually pleases God. Brothers and sisters, there are two words that you must leave this worship with this morning. Two words. Two words. Access and acceptance. Access and acceptance. Now, I'm not going to expound on those two words, but everything we talk about this morning is going to deal with those two words. Everything I say to you about the Lord Jesus Christ this morning, I want you to categorize them under those two words. Access to God. Acceptance to God. What does the text say? The text says, over in verse 16, he says, "...and do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." That is, we have acceptance by the Triune God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only are we accepted by this glorious, holy God. Accepted, beloved. Think about it. Meditate upon that. Let that stir your heart this morning, that you are accepted by God, that He views you as pleasing in His sight because of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only do you have that access, not only are you allowed to come into God's presence, but you have acceptance. Access and acceptance. Brothers and sisters, it's one thing to have access to God, it's another thing to be accepted by Him. We all know the feeling and the emotion that stirs up within us when we sin against our parents. You know, remember back when you were a child, maybe a teenager, and you sinned against your parents and you grieved them deeply. And you had to go into their presence and you had to discuss your sin before them. You had to offer some excuse on why you failed so miserably. And it's one thing to come before them, it's one thing to look them in the eye. That took enough courage in and of itself, but beloved, it was another thing for them to accept your forgiveness, to accept your asking them to forgive you. It's another thing for them to accept you and to embrace you and to say, do not do it again. So those are two different terms, two different concepts, two different understandings. And know this, beloved, as we, again, as everything we say this morning is going to deal with those two words, access to God and acceptance. What was the problem of this Hebrew church? What were they facing? They were facing the idea that they did not have those things. Remember that the Hebrews were being bombarded by the Pharisees and those false teachers. And what they were telling these Hebrew Christians is they didn't have the temple anymore. They didn't have the priesthood any longer. They didn't have that yearly Yom Kippur, that yearly atonement for sin. They were just told of all of the things that they no longer had because they had followed the Lord Jesus Christ. And here the Apostle has spent the whole book telling them what they did have. And pointing out the fact that all of the Old Testament pointed to that Jesus was the fulfillment of all of those things that those Pharisees were still continuing in. And we're going to talk about that this morning. We're going to talk about those things. But first, I want to lay out the fact to you that this book is written to stir us up by explaining to us what we do have. What we do have in the Lord Jesus Christ, because when He comes down to verse 13 and verse 10, chapter 13 and verse 10, I believe this is like the seventh or sixth or eighth time that He has declared to us what we have in Christ. This isn't the first time. That He's used this motivation to stir us up to faithfulness. And beloved, not just faithfulness. Militant faithfulness. A militant desire to see righteousness cover the earth. A militant desire to see sin expunged from our lives. A militant desire to see ourselves, our wives, our children, our husbands, our families, and our churches, and our friends walking in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not just that we hate sin. We hate it in ourselves and we hate it everywhere we see it. Because it's an affront to Christ. And if it's an affront to Christ, it ought to be an affront to us. Now, I know we're not all there yet. That's why we believe in sanctification. But I'm going to ask you something. Do you know what sanctification means? It means to become more and more like Jesus. Sanctification is summed up in this one simple statement. To love what the Lord loves and to hate what the Lord hates now. And we come into this relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ at various levels and different degrees of understanding. But one thing is true of everybody in this auditorium. And that is this. You should love more of what the Lord loves today than you did when you first were saved. You should hate more of the things that God hates today than when you first were saved. Beloved, is that true of you? Is that true of you? Are you being sanctified? Do you love more of the Lord's ways? Do you love more of the Lord's Word? Do you love more of the Lord's commandments and precepts and ordinances? Do you love to pray more now than you ever have before. Do you love reading your Bible more now than you ever have before? Beloved, do you love what the Lord loves? Do you hate what He hates? And look at that progressively in your lives. But there are several things, several motivations that the writer of the book of Hebrews uses to stir us up, and we're going to look at those this morning. Turn to Hebrews chapter 4. And let's look at the first motivation that he tells us that we have as Christians, as born-again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 14 says, Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are yet. without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need." I'm going to go through these real quickly and then we'll go back and emphasize some of the teachings in each one of these. The second one is found in Hebrews 6, verse 19. Notice what he has. He says, This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast, and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 1 where he says, and now the main point in what has been said is this, we have such a high priest. who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man." Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 19. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 19. Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil that is His flesh. And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. The fifth one, Hebrews 12, verse 1, Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. And beloved, we have Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 10 that says, we have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. Now in each one of these motivations or in each one of these statements, that's what they are, they're statements, they're declarative statements that point out the fact that we have something as Christians. that we claim Christ as Christians. We have the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the promise. We have the blessed Messiah. We have the one who is called Jesus. We have the one who is called Christ. And remember, beloved, His name isn't Jesus Christ. That's not His first and last name. His name is Jesus. That's His name. Jesus. Christ is His title. He's the anointed one of God. He is the Messiah. He's Christ. We have Jesus. And this Jesus is the Christ of God. He's the everlasting, anointed Messiah. He's the promised one. He's the one to come and take away your sins. He's the one who was coming to take away and to establish a people for God's own glory. He's the one that came so that you might have access to God and have full access to God. He's the One that came. And because of His work, and because of His laying down of His own life, He has provided a way for you to be accepted in the eyes of God. And because of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord looks at you. All of you who are wrapped up in the Lord Jesus, all of you that are trusting in the Lord Jesus, when God looks at you, He's pleased with you. When God looks at you, He has favor for you. When God looks at you, He has peace. There is a peace treaty. There is peace now established between you and God. Because before the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible says that you were at war with Him. That you did not have access to Him. That that way was blocked. Sin had blocked your way to God. You had no way of pleasing God. The only thing God owed you was wrath and judgment. And you say, but I didn't know I was at war with God. The Bible says you were at war with God. I didn't know that God was not pleased with me. The Bible says God's not pleased with all those who reject His Son. You see, beloved, we have all of those things that, all of the things we have, all of the things that we cherish, all of the things we need to cling to in this life are all found in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. Let's go back and look at these verses again and look at the motivation behind each one of these. The motivation behind each one of these. Back in Hebrews 4, verse 14, notice he says, Therefore we have a great high priest, and this high priest has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession. That is, those who have Jesus as their great high priest has the ability to hold fast to their confession. that they don't have a weak high priest. They don't have a human high priest any longer like those in the old covenant. They have a divine high priest. They have a high priest who is now seated at God's right hand and who is sinless. And he says, look at verse 16, that's the motivation. That's what we are to do because if we have Jesus as our great high priest, he says, let us draw near to God with confidence. Do you draw near to God? When you worship, when you worship, in your mind and in your heart, are you drawing near to God? Or are you just here? You're just going through the motions. You're wrapped up in everything else. You're thinking about lunch. You're thinking about the meetings this week. Or you're thinking about something terrible that happened this past week. And you're failing to draw near to God. And you have such a great high priest, the Bible says. You have such great access to the throne of God and you're not using it. You fail to access the throne room of grace. You fail to understand your great high priest. And remember, beloved, he is writing to these Hebrew Christians that they might not forsake the Lord Jesus Christ and go back to those empty rituals of sacrifices and with the priesthood again. He says, listen, all of those things pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ, and now you have it. Enter into the throne room of grace with confidence. Hebrews 6 and verse 19, he says, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul. Back up to verse 18, he says, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast, and one that enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as the forerunner for us. Beloved, this hope is, and I hope so, maybe so, it might happen. This is not the kind of hope that every Christian has. Every Christian has as his or her hope the Lord Jesus Christ. Your hope is embodied in the person, a mediator, a prophet, priest, and king. Your hope is embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ and He has passed through the veil. He has entered into the presence of God as the forerunner for you. You know what you have? You have a high priest that at every second of the day, every minute of the day, he's before the face of God. And he's mediating on your behalf. He's praying for you. He's praying that you would be sustained. He's praying that the temptations and that the trials and that all of the things that God has sent into your life may shape and mold you and make you a stronger and better Christian. The Lord Jesus Christ is in the presence of God, mediating on behalf of His people. Are you His people? Are you that people? You see, back over in Hebrews chapter 14, where it says, Therefore, since we have a great high priest, and even in this, these are present tense verbs. These are something we have all the time. You had a high priest yesterday. You've got a high priest today. And beloved, you're going to have that same high priest tomorrow. I don't care what trial you face. I don't care what temptation you face. I don't care what difficulty you face tomorrow. Whatever God has in store for you this week, You can go to your high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, you can enter into the throne room of grace, you can lay your petitions before God, and you can receive grace and mercy, and you can draw near to Him no matter what the difficulty is. You don't have to wait once a year like the Old Testament church did. You have a great high priest. In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 19, Again, where it says, therefore, brethren, since we have confidence. Having is emphatic here. It's the very first word in the Greek sentence. Having. He's emphasizing what you have. You have confidence. What is this confidence? This confidence? Brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He inaugurated for us, Through the veil, that is His flesh. And since we have a great high priest over at the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance." That's the result, beloved, of knowing that Jesus Christ is your great high priest. The result is that you draw near to God in full assurance. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 1, Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Again, this is a present tense. We always stand in the flow of church history. We always, beloved, stand in the flow of those faithful men and women who have gone before us. They are our witnesses. They are the auditorium. They're not sitting around us right now, looking down on our worship, going, oh, what are they going to do? That's not the picture. That's not the truth He's trying to illustrate for us. All He's trying to say is that we stand in a progressive line of faithful saints that must remain faithful. Remember Moses, Noah, Enoch, Abraham. Samson, David, remember those who had gone before us. Remember those who remained faithful in great difficulty, trial, and temptation. And beloved, he said, that's the river we stand in. But notice again, what's the motivation? What's the result of understanding that we stand in a progressive line of faithful saints? What's the motivation knowing that we are to maintain our confession just as they had maintained theirs? Well, he says simply this, He says, let us lay aside every encumbrance and sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. He says, listen, since you know you stand progressively in the line of the saints, don't encumber yourself with a bunch of sins and a bunch of things that you don't need. Things that are going to entangle you in the race, he says, but keeping your eyes focused upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course we see over in chapter 13 and verse 10, look at what it says in verse 12, it says, Therefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people through his own blood suffered outside the gate, so let us go out. to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city to come. He says, through Him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. Beloved, that's the result of understanding that the Lord Jesus Christ is your great High Priest. He is your forerunner. He is your hope. He is your confidence. And He is your altar. That's the result of it. If you have this altar that is spoken of in the book of Hebrews, what is going to be the result? The result is going to be continual praise and thanksgiving and good works that we offer up to God as spiritual sacrifices. Not stopping those things. A continual maintaining of praise, good works, sharing with those who need things. You know, we spend a lot of time talking about brotherly love, offering up to God our lives, which are spiritual sacrifices to God. You know, it's amazing to me how so many people love, how we love externalism. We love checking the box. Hey, that's great. Give me a checklist. Give me a checklist one through ten. Let me accomplish something and check number one off. I don't have to fool with it again. Let me check number two off. It's done behind me. Let me check number three off. Hey, never to see it again. Beloved, we love things like that, but that's not Christianity. Christianity is a continual offering up of yourselves, your heart's desires to God as a spiritual sacrifice. It's not checking off the boxes. It's knowing that you must come to Christ with a sincere heart to obey Him and to love Him and to follow Him. Beloved, it's knowing that God will not accept the checklist if the heart's not right. You can check the list all day long. You know, the rigidity of a husband or a wife who thinks they're loving their husband by some mechanical ways. Oh, love you. Oh, and I cooked your supper. Oh, and I kissed you on the cheek. And I've done these things, but it was cold as ice. A lot of people offer up worship to God that way. Well, I went to church. I even prayed with my children. We even pray before we eat sometimes in public. God's not pleased with those things if it's not done with a sincere heart. A heart that says, above all things, I love the Lord. And it doesn't matter to me what people think about me. It doesn't matter to me what my parents think about me, what my friends think about me, what my office people think about me, what my workmates think about me. It doesn't even matter. Listen, it doesn't even matter what your wife thinks about you or your husband. You say, whoa, Jess, you're going a little too far. Emma, didn't Jesus say if you don't love father or mother, that if you love father or mother or child more than me, you're not worthy of me? Isn't that what he said? Yes, he did. He said that our love for him must put every other love to shame. It doesn't mean you don't love your parents. It doesn't mean you don't love your wife. But you don't love your wife or your husband more than you love the Lord Jesus Christ. And you don't love your children more than you love Jesus Christ. We teach our children to love Jesus and God more than they love us. You see, beloved. Our motivation is an internal motivation. That is, knowing that we have this Jesus. We're motivated and stirred up within our being to be faithful. To be found faithful. To know that when we grieve God, when we sin against Him, it cuts us to the heart and we're grieved for it. And we cry and we moan and we groan. And we even think, why should I even go to the Lord? and ask Him to forgive me again. I've sinned so much I can't bear to do it. And we feel so guilty. Because God desires mercy over sacrifice. And He's desired mercy over sacrifice since the Old Testament. Beloved, what are the things we have? We have a great High Priest. We have a Christ, our ever-present High Priest that we can go to anytime. Not so in the Old Covenant. They didn't have total and complete and full access to the High Priest. Only once a year did the High Priest come out and offer a burnt offering and go into the Holy of Holies representing the people, the nation of Israel. One time a year. And of course, the author of Hebrews is saying, you have an altar. He is telling these Hebrew Christians, just as he is clearly telling you today, you lack nothing in the Lord Jesus Christ. You have everything. You have given up nothing to serve Christ. You have it all. You have it all. We have Christ who is our constant anchor, which is our hope and confidence. We have Christ who is able to change our hearts and cause us to draw near to God with complete assurance. The ceremonial law only pointed to the need of internal change, but it could not affect the change. The ceremonial law could only point to the Lord Jesus. It could only point out the fact that you needed a heart change, but it could not affect the change, but the Lord Jesus can. The Lord Jesus comes and He writes the law in your heart. He takes away your sins and He forgives you. He casts your sins away, never to bring them up again. We have Christ who has changed millions of lives before us. And we stand in their wake, having them as our example. You say, Christ didn't change you? Beloved, Christ has changed more sinners. Christ has changed sinners that make you look like A student. A child. Christ has saved the vilest of sinners. And He can change you just as He changed them. He can make you more like Himself. Ceremonial law couldn't do that. The ceremonial law changed no one. It only pointed out that you needed changing. We have a Christ who came to earth and put on flesh and suffered at the hands of sinful men, endured affliction like no other, faithfully serving His Father, never deviated from the course. We have a Christ who has gained access and acceptance for us. He did what we could not do in a million years or a million attempts. Beloved, we came into this world guilty. We came into this world condemned. There is no amount of time that can change that. There is no amount of temps. There is no amount of starting over. If God was to wipe your slate clean today, you'd be sinning in the next minute. You would fail every time. That's why you not only need the death of the Lord Jesus to take away your sins, you need His life. You need both His active and passive work to be imputed to you. Because see, brothers, if the Lord just took away your sins, we'd all be guilty in the next minute. But when we have the work and the labors and the life of the Lord Jesus Christ imputed to us, we have His life and obedience accredited to our account. That's what you've got to have. You can't just have forgiveness of sins. You've got to have the work of Christ, His life imputed to you. It's through Christ that we have access to God and are accepted as children of God. Now, how can we describe our faith in Christ as anything other than what we have gained? I mean, beloved, looking at all of these things, the way I see it and the way I understand it, we've only lost two things. Misery and death. And do you want them back? I mean, is that what you want? Because that's the fruit. That's what those who do not have the Lord Jesus have. Death and misery. That's the only thing that you lost. Those two things. And you remember that. You remember that when the Lord puts you in a position to testify to His name. You remember that when you're put in a position by God to stand up and tell the truth. You remember that when you're put in a place to represent Christ and His righteousness and what it means to be saved and born again. What it means to offer up spiritual sacrifices and not just go to some cold worship. Not just to sing praises and hymns in a murmur. And a mumble that nobody can hear you. I'm here to tell you. And I mean this in all my reading this week. A heart that has the Lord, the heart that has embraced the Lord Jesus Christ and that is indwelt by the Holy Spirit is a praising heart. Throughout history, God's people have been known as a people who praise God. Well, let's look at our exposition of this passage in this text of Scripture, Hebrews 13, 10, where it says that we have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. Now, we have to notice how the writer has chosen to communicate all of the benefits we have in Christ. He has explained our Christianity with ceremonial language. Simply put, He has not abandoned the use of ceremonial language to explain properly what we have in and through Christ. Have you noticed all those passages we read? All of those passages were seasoned with ceremonial language, Old Testament lingo. It's not just because that the Hebrews were Hebrews, that's so Paul uses with the Corinthians. We're not going to go there because we don't have time. But you see, beloved, it's because we don't understand the Old Testament and we don't understand the ceremonial law. Many times we don't even understand Christ because we don't understand these things. That is, if we understood the ceremonial law, we understood its purposes, we understood its intent, what it would do, it would magnify and clarify the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in such a way like you've never seen him before. And we're going to look at some of that this morning. You see, he doesn't abandon ceremonial language. And this is what I'm referring to. So many people have the mentality and the mindset, hey, we're just under grace. And we don't define grace. They don't define grace. They just say, we're under grace. We don't have any obligations whatsoever to any of the law in the Old Testament. We don't even want to understand the law. We don't have any place for the law. We don't have any use for it. And that concept has borne the fruit of a tremendous amount of error. People don't understand the role of the church because of it. People don't understand the role of a believer in the church because they don't understand the ceremonial law, they don't understand Christ. Beloved, I'm here to tell you, you can't understand the Lord Jesus Christ if you don't understand the ceremonial law. The ceremonial law was the baby talk to explain Christ. The ceremonial law was the pop-up book. The ceremonial law was the ABCs in order to explain Christ so that when Christ came, So that when He came, people would look at Him like John the Baptist did and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who comes and takes away the sins of the world. That's what the ceremonial law did. It pointed out Christ. It was that flashing arrow over the head of Jesus Christ all while He walked on earth. The ceremonial law pointed to Him perfectly. And those who understood the ceremonial law, those who had embraced the intents and the precepts of the ceremonial law, had no problem seeing Jesus. They saw Him. The Pharisees didn't see Him rightly, did they? Because they were all caught up in the external check-the-box list. They weren't caught up in the external heart change. They were caught up into extending the lengths of their garments. They were caught up in falling down in public and praying before people so everybody would go, oh, how spiritual. They were caught up in all of the external rites of religiosity. But they did not know Christ, and when Christ was in their face, they couldn't see Him. That's why John the Baptist says, you brood of vipers, Who has taught you to come out here and ask for repentance? How would you repent? You don't even understand the ceremonial law. I'm going to look at some of the uses of the ceremonial law. I'm going to teach you the purposes and intent of the ceremonial law so that we can understand this one verse. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 10 so that it makes sense to you, ok? Now, we said this, that the primary purpose of the ceremonial law was to point to Christ. It was to point Him out and to stir those needy sinners to flee to Him as the only mean of salvation. The ceremonial law in the Old Testament was to stir up those Old Testament saints, to embrace the coming Messiah, because Jesus had not yet come, to embrace the coming promise of God that they might be saved through Him. And they did all of the ceremonial activity to point to their faith in the coming promised one. Okay? They acted out all of the ceremonial rites to point out they had faith in Jesus. Now, not all of them had faith. Someone was checking off the boxes. But the primary use of the ceremonial law was to point out Jesus. To explain him in graphic language, word pictures, to illustrate both, that he was God and man. To illustrate his person, that he was holy above measure. To illustrate his work, that he was mediator between God and man. That man must have a mediator. The ceremonial law illustrated his benefits. that in Christ alone can we have rest and acceptance and access to God. The ceremonial law foreshadowed Christ. You know what a foreshadow means? It means like when you're walking with the sun behind you and the shadow gets there first. The ceremonial law came first. The ceremonial law foreshadowed Christ. It came first so that when the reality got there, because you knew the shadow, you saw the reality. And you said, the Lamb of God. My Savior. My Christ. My Messiah. My all. We must understand the ceremonial all. You see, beloved, so many people today have just cast these things, they read the Old Testament like a big storybook. It's just a big storybook. And that's one thing I don't like about children's Bibles. The Bible storybook. You know, it's not like the Chronicles of Narnia. These are divine narratives that are explaining the redemptive work of God in the earth. But see, this is not the only use of the ceremonial law. This is the primary use of the ceremonial law, but it's not the only use of the ceremonial law. For the ceremonial law contains subordinate, yet real, relatively small, yet absolutely great, not glorious with respect to the glory that excelleth, yet with respect to all other glory, full of brightness. This 19th century preacher says that the ceremonial law was full of brightness. That if you understood the ceremonial law, you would see Jesus in the Old Testament. That when you read Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, you would see Jesus on every page, if you understood rightly the ceremonial law. You see, the ceremonial law acted as an illuminating grace to Old Testament saints. An illuminating grace. Beloved, there are several things we're going to have to go through if we're going to make our time this morning, so I'm going to speak quickly. Number two, the primary use of the ceremonial law is to point out Christ, but number two, the subordinate uses of the ceremonial rites bound the people of God together. The ceremonial law bound the people of God together. They brought them into the public assemblies for worship and knit them closely together by the most sacred ties. They came together confessing the one true God. That there is only one God. And He is the one true God. And they came together confessing that He was their God and that they were His people. And there is no external bond greater than that of common religion or belief. And you've all testified to that. If you've got family members that care not for Christ, who will not tolerate you giving glory to Christ, you long for those brothers and sisters that are like-minded, Even though you love your brothers and you love your sisters or you love your folks and you love your parents, there is nothing more sweeter than the communion of saint to saint. There is nothing more sweeter than two brothers or two sisters getting together, two believing families coming together and speaking of the things of Christ. Just as the ceremonial law bound those hearts together, so does our hearts are bound together in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because he is the fulfillment of the ceremonial law. Thirdly, the ceremonial rites were marks of their profession. The ceremonial law in the Old Testament were marks of their profession, of one faith and one Lord. Not many, but one. One faith. One Lord. The ceremonial law distinguished them from all other nations. They served as a hedge of protection and separation between Israel and the Gentile nation. The ceremonial law proved to separate and protect Israel from the idolatrous nations. To protect Israel and to insulate Israel from those nations who practiced things that brought death and misery. who practices abominations in God's eyes, who practice those things that did not please God. You see, beloved, the ceremonial law acted to protect and to insulate and to separate Israel from those other nations that did not have God. Remember, that's the title of our sermon, We Have Christ. We have an altar. We have something that those other people that reject Christ do not have or do not know Christ do not have. We have access and acceptance in the eyes of God. We don't have time to go there, but you can look up Deuteronomy 4.8 that says, what other nation has so great laws as Israel? That is, when the other nations saw Israel, and all of their laws, and all of their worship, and all of their ceremonies, they said, what other nation has a God so close to it as Israel? Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 14. Notice this. It says, for He, Christ Himself, is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall. He's talking about the ceremonial law, the ceremonial divider that separated Jews and Gentiles. Because Jews and Gentiles couldn't worship together in the ceremonial law, in the old covenant. Fourthly, that ceremonial law reminded His people reminded all men, not just God's people, but reminded all men of sin, the reality of sin. The ceremonial law pointed out sin and that God was holy and that God demanded a holy people. And that sin came in different degrees and produced various results. Not all sin is the same. The ceremonial law pointed that out. The ceremonial law was the divine means to a moral end. Beloved, when we talk about the ceremonial law, just don't act like it's just a bunch of rituals in the Old Testament. It had a morality to it. There was a moral end to the ceremonial law. God's holy. We must be holy. No man can go before God without a sacrifice. That's Jesus. Man must be represented by a high priest. His name is Jesus. You see, the ceremonial law teaches us to hate sin and to love purity. Fifthly, the ceremonial law serves as a constant test and exercise of obedience toward God. They help to educate Israel, His people, how to worship Him in a true heartfelt service to Him. The ceremonial law taught God's people how to come into His presence, how God wanted His people to worship Him, because He did not leave it up to man to make that up. God says, You will worship Me how I have prescribed. Will you do it? They were tested. Will they follow the prescriptions of God or will they make up their own worship? And they say, well, I like this because this makes me feel better. And neglect to sanctify their own hearts, you see. That's externalism. See, externalism says, I just want to feel good. I just want to feel, I just want to have this emotional rush. I just want to have these goose bumps. I want to know that I've been in the presence of God when the hair stands up on the back of my neck. That's externalism. When you come into the presence of God and you have that blah feeling, like, here I am. If you understand the ceremonial law, you say, Lord, I'm a sinner. And I come before your presence with so much presumption. Will you cleanse me? Will you change my desires? Will you give me the love I need to love you? Will you give me the emotion, Oh God, I'm just here. I don't feel like worshipping you today. I don't want to be here. I need sanctifying. I need your grace to change me. I need to love being in your presence no matter what the situation or circumstances. That's what the ceremonial law pointed to, but did not do. That is, God desires a heart and not just sacrifice. Sixthly, the ceremonial law had a disciplinary nature to it. It involved correcting the sinful tendencies of the people, keeping them from falling into idolatry. The ceremonial law acted as a fire to melt and to reshape a sinful people into the people of God. That is this. God says, I will have a people and my people will look like this. Has that changed? I ask you something. Has anything I have said changed? Are you not concerned with holiness? Are you not concerned with separation? Are you not concerned with being idolaters? Are you not concerned with being influenced by those who don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you not concerned that you're not separated enough unto the things of God? That you don't think highly enough of the things of God? Are you not concerned that your heart is not bent and melted to the things of God? I ask you, beloved, tell me where the moral aspect of this ceremonial law has been done away with. Because I'm here to tell you it's in effect in Christ. Everything the ceremonial law demanded in the Old Testament, Christ demands of us today. The ceremonial law did act as a fire to melt us, to melt his people and to change their hearts or to point to the change that they needed, that God might refine them into his people. The ceremonial law were the means of support to the ministry, the sacrifices. The priests could eat some of the sacrifices brought to the temple. The tithes brought to support the tabernacle supported the priesthood and various other forms of support to the priesthood. Today, some people think tithing is not even an option. They think, well, because that's an Old Testament concept. And because the ceremonial law has been done away with, who needs to tithe anymore? See, they don't understand the church. They don't understand their moral obligations today because they don't understand what God was trying to teach the people of Israel in baby language in the Old Testament. In ABC language, pop-up book language in the Old Testament. In graphic word pictures, illustrations. They say this, we are all priests in the new covenant, and they quote 1 Peter chapter 2. Well, that's where the verse is found in 1 Peter chapter 2, but let me tell you where that quote comes from. That quote comes out of Exodus. They were a priesthood too. The people in the Old Testament were a priesthood as well. And they still had ministers over them. Just like so many in the house church today believe that there are no legitimate ministers in the New Covenant church. Beloved, it's never been that way. And it's not that way now. That is, Christ has established teachers, pastors, in order to lead and to feed His sheep and flock. And yes, all of you are royal priesthood. All of you are priests in the eyes of God. But being priests in the eyes of God does not nullify the ministry. of the apostles and elders. The ceremonial oil was used rightly to stir, when used rightly, stirred up and to excite faith and obedience and perseverance in God's people. It served to prepare their hearts for the people to receive the coming Prince of Peace. Beloved, turn to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. I'm going to take the time to read this. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 19, he says, why the law then? Now that law is capitalized in my Bible, the NAS, but it shouldn't be capitalized. It's not the moral law. It's the ceremonial law he's referring to here. He says, the ceremonial law was added because of transgressions. having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. Now a mediator is not for one party only, whereas God is one, only one. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be, for if a law had been given which was able to impart life then righteousness would indeed have been based on the law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe." He says the ceremonial law never could give faith. It never could impart life. That's why it pointed to the Lord Jesus. It was to stir those people up that they may embrace the Messiah, the coming Christ. Paul says here in the book of Galatians to those people who wanted to go back to an external form of religion, he says, did the ceremonial law when he gave it to Moses nullify the promise made to Abraham? That's what he's talking about. Did the ceremonial law given to Moses nullify the promise I made to Abraham, that God made to Abraham? He says, absolutely not. It enforced it. It enforced man's need and desire. It showed everybody that they were what? Not holy. It showed everybody that they were confined under sin. It pointed out that there is only one holy God, one holy sacrifice, and He's a God-man, and He's coming, and you must embrace the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it did. That's what it did. Now, are we to keep the ceremonial law today? Are you to bring lambs to church and we're to butcher them and offer them on the altar? Absolutely not. That'd be crazy. We're not about to go back to something that's been abolished. But beloved, we are to keep the underlying precept of it. We're to be holy. God hasn't changed his mind about holiness. It's unbelievable how so many today never speak about holiness, the holiness of God and the holiness of God's people. God did not save you for you to stay the way you are. He saved you that He might sanctify you and change you into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. He saved you that you might change and be more like His Son. Jesus did not change His mind when He said, listen, there's only one kind of people going to heaven, and that's perfect people. Perfectly holy people. And he said, be therefore perfect as your father in heaven is perfect. Well, look back over here in Hebrews chapter 13, I want to show you something. Look back over in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 12. What does it say here? Therefore, emphatically, it's the strongest therefore you can have in the Greek language. Therefore, Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, that He might make holy a people through the shedding of His own blood. Has God nullified holiness? No, not at all. Has God nullified His people being sanctified? Not at all. It's all found now in the Lord Jesus Christ, not in the offering of animals and bulls and goats. You see, we are still bound to direct all of our time, energy, and effort to seek after pursuing Christ as our greater High Priest. We must have a High Priest, beloved. His name is Jesus. We still have a ceremonial law. It's wrapped up in Jesus. He's our high priest. You must still have a high priest. You must still have a sacrifice. You must still be holy. You must still be separated. Beloved, that's why the Bible says, that's why Paul counseled the brethren, and he said this, don't be unequally yoked in marriage. What does an unbeliever have in common with a believer? Don't be unequally yoked. As a believer, you're not allowed to marry unbelievers. Where did he get that? Where did Paul get that? Did he make that up? Does it sound spiritual? No, he got it right out of the Ceremonial Law. And he's applying it today. Jesus said we must be holy as our Heavenly Father is holy. Beloved, we do not have time to go into all of the details of our view of law like I wanted to. But I just want to say this. I want to say this. What do we believe about the ceremonial laws? We believe they've been abrogated by Christ. That means they've been fulfilled in Christ. That means they still have their binding in Him. We must cling and flee to Him. We must embrace Him. And those who have faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible says in Hebrews, they have an altar. What does the Bible say about the judicial laws of the Old Testament? I'm just mentioning this because I want you to understand how to read your Bible. Those judicial laws of the Old Testament have expired with Israel. But the general equity of those laws are still binding. For example, go to 1 Corinthians 9 and Paul applies, don't muzzle the ox who treads the grain to paying a preacher his due wages. There was a law, judicial law, that applied to Israel, because I don't know how many of you have oxen in your front yard, treading your grain so you can make your bread. I don't think you have any. So this law didn't apply to you. It applied to the agrarian nature of Israel, who had oxen. They said, don't put a muzzle on the ox, because when he threshes the grain, he has a right to eat from the fruit of his labors. He has the right to eat from the grain. And to put a muzzle on the ox was wrong. Paul takes that principle and applies it to ministers. He says, a minister has a right to wages. He's worthy of his hire. Don't muzzle the preacher. Let him live by his labors. What about the moral law? Well, beloved, the reason Galatians chapter 3 isn't talking about the moral law is because the moral law has never been in question. The moral law has always been binding. The moral law has always bound men to the living God. Let me give you an example. That's why Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed. Because all men owe God a certain morality that Sodom and Gomorrah did not offer. And God judged them. That's why Nebuchadnezzar, when he exhibited so much pride, God judged him. He wasn't a believer. He was a Gentile. How about Nineveh? God sent a prophet to Nineveh, who they were not part of Israel. And he said, I tell you what, unless you repent, I'm coming to destroy you. The moral law binds all men everywhere in every nation. That's never been in question. Beloved, we have an altar and this altar is Jesus. This altar is not the cross. We don't believe in altars in churches. We don't believe that you can come down to an altar because to have an altar is to offer a sacrifice. And the only sacrifice we're to offer today is on the Lord Jesus Christ, the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving and good deeds. We don't believe in altars in churches and we don't believe in altars in our houses. Jesus is the altar. We have a Savior. We have a mediator. We have a sacrifice. We have access and acceptance before God. Now, what's the result? The result is this. Let us go out, as the text says, let us go out and bear His reproach. Let us go out and bear. Let us go out and identify with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us forsake this sinful city. Verse 14. Let us forsake this sinful city. Let us not seek to be a part of it, but let's look for the righteousness of God that's coming. Those are all present tense verbs. Here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city that is coming now. The city that's in progress of coming, the kingdom of God is at hand, Jesus said. The kingdom of God is coming to you in righteousness as the gospel is preached. Let us be identified with Jesus and let us look for this coming kingdom. Let us, through the Lord Jesus Christ as our mediator, offer up spiritual sacrifices of praise. I wish I had time, but I can't. Go back this afternoon and read Psalm 111 through Psalm 113. And those are just psalms of praise as they ask God for nothing. They just praise God for who He is. Colossians 3.16 says, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to the Lord that we would offer up the sacrifice of thankfulness. 1 Peter 2.5 says this, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ. Beloved, are you still offering up sacrifices? Absolutely. They're just not bloody. We don't no longer need a bloody sacrifice because Jesus was that bloody sacrifice that atoned for the sins of His people. Now we're to offer up continual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. Let us pray. Father, we know that There's so much to take in and there's so much to learn that we will never plumb the depths of Christ. But Lord, instill in our minds and our hearts this day that we have Christ, that we have a Savior, that we have a Mediator, that we have everything we need for life in Godliness, that we have not forsaken anything but death and misery and embraced eternal life and everlasting glory. Oh God, help us to live like that. Help us to live in light of that magnificent truth. Help us, Lord, to see more clearly and more fully the blessedness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us to see Him on every page and every line of Scripture. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.