The Vindication of Christ (Hebrews 9)

Let's turn to the book of Hebrews, please, chapter 9 for a few minutes, and enjoying some thoughts on this portion, Hebrews chapter 9. Let's come to verse number verse 18. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined upon you.

Reference back to Exodus chapter 24. Moreover he sprinkled likewise with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood.

Why does it say almost? Almost all things. Well, perhaps one reason would be Leviticus chapter 5, the sin offering. There were various grades of sin offerings, and it comes all the way down to if a man couldn't afford, for instance, a sheep or a goat, he could bring a tenth part of a nepha of flour for a sin offering.

There would be no frankincense upon it, there'd be no oil upon it, but he would be purged in that sense from sin under the old economy with flour. No blood. Seems strange, but if a man was so poor that's all he could bring, flour would be in that sense his life, and it was offered to God.

And without shedding of blood is no remission, that is the norm. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. And we want to notice why it says sacrifices instead of just sacrifice.

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear to come to view in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest that is under the old economy, Aaron and his successors, entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others, Leviticus 16. For then must he often, Christ must often, have suffered since the foundation of the world.

But once, now once in the end of the world of the age, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

That's our reading with the Lord's blessing upon it. Take a moment and think, if you were to put one word over what we have read, one word, what word would you choose? I'm going to use the word vindication, and I'll explain that to you in just a moment. You notice that the contrast throughout the book of Hebrews has been between the Old Testament covenant, the old covenant that was given at Sinai, the law and the provisions of the law, the sacrifices and so on, the priesthood as we were thinking this morning, and how all of that has been superseded by that which is better, by the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, his ministry and his work, his exaltation.

And when you think of the the Bible as a whole and the way in which God has unfolded things throughout the ages, by whom also he made the worlds, chapter 1, the ages, God has been working out his own purposes for a reason in bringing his Son into this world. He has spoken unto us in his Son. After all that proceeded and various times, various ways to the fathers and the prophets and so on, by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.

Do you ever wonder why did God not just send his Son right up front? Instead of introducing this temporal system of animal sacrifices and the tabernacle with its white barrier all around, and then the colorful gate, and you go in and there's the brazen altar, and then there's the laver, and then there's the door, and then into the holy place, and then there's a veil with the the golden lampstand on the one side, the table of showbread and the other, and the golden altar of incense there before the veil, and then inside there is the the Ark of the Covenant overlaid with gold, and so on. And every whit of it, the of Christ, every detail, it's marvelous to see that. Why the temporary provision up front, and then in the end of the ages, he speaks unto us in his Son? Why? Vindication.

Vindication. What do you mean, vindication? Well, let me illustrate. A number of years ago, some may remember, Brother Dan Rudge was with us.

He came on an invitation, and it was a few years ago. Brother Robert Weber was still alive. We took him down to the Ankeny Conference.

I'd never met Brother Dan before. I heard about him by reputation, and we were in touch by email, and I could learn something about the brother by the way he wrote in the email, and then he sent his picture, and then he booked a flight to come into O'Hare, then he got on a coach, and he came up to Madison, and I was there to meet him. And even before he stepped off the coach, I could see that stand right there, and he came over, and I shook his hand, and we met for the first time.

How did I know it was him? Well, the emails were giving me something about the brother, but when he sent his picture, you see, that was a big help, wasn't it? And then when he appeared, I could identify him and knew that that was Brother Dan Rudge. And so I recognized him when he got off the coach. Now, in a sense, that's what God has done.

He has given us the pictures up front, so that as the ages unfolded and the time came when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son. And when he came on the basis of the pictures and the types that had been given, he should have been recognized for who he was, his person and his work. God manifests in the flesh, taking the place of poor sinners upon the cross.

And so God had that beautiful picture presented of his own dear Son, his person, and his work. So you have all things in the Old Testament there, purged with blood, and he says in verse 23, it was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens, that is, the Old Testament tabernacle system, should be purified with these, these animal sacrifices. Right? And what was on earth was but a pattern, a similitude, a picture, if you will, of what pertained in heavenly truth.

But now he says, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these animal sacrifices. And so it was necessary for those heavenly things also to be sanctified and purged. Now, why would that be? Why sacrifices? Well, simply it's referring to the sacrifice of Christ that fulfilled all of those animal sacrifices in the Old Testament.

So he was the fulfillment of sacrifices that purified even the heavenly places. That's marvelous. You know, we often think of the work of Christ only in relation to earth and the sin of man on earth, but even the heavens are not clean in his sight.

And evidently Satan has access to heavenly places, the principalities and powers in heavenly places, right? But the work of Christ is such that he will purify the heavens, even the heavens, and Satan will be dealt with ultimately. And the heavens will be purified in the sight of God. So Christ is the subject, that's clear.

Verse 24, Christ has not entered into the holy places made with hands, that is, into the Old Testament system of actual material things of earth. They were but figures of the true, the substance is heavenly. And that's where he now appears, he comes to view before the very face of God, in the presence of God for us.

That's what he's doing right now, appearing before the face of God. That's marvelous. And he's blessing us, he's our high priest in the very presence of God for us.

You know, back there in the Old Testament, in the book of Numbers, there was a function that Aaron had to do when he would bless the children of Israel. He was to say to the people, the Lord bless thee and keep thee, the Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee, the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. And that's what the Lord Jesus, that's his blessing for us right now.

He is in the very presence of God before the countenance of God, and he's there for blessing. He appears in the presence of God for us, representing us, interceding for us, guaranteeing us a place there as well. He's the forerunner, as we have been reminded already today.

So that relates to his present ministry. He will dip back into the past, when you come to the next few verses, nor yet that he should offer himself as a high priest, and he goes back into the Old Testament, now verse 26, for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world, but now once in the consummation of the ages hath he appeared, he has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. It's often pointed out that the background to the book of Hebrews is the Day of Atonement, and you remember that on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would first of all take the first goat on whom the Lord's lot fell, it would be killed, and its blood would be taken within the sanctuary, beyond the veil, sprinkled before, and upon the mercy seat.

Right? And that goat was representing sin. It was a sin offering. The other goat, the scapegoat, it was also a part of the sin offering, the one offering, but two goats.

And upon that goat, the high priest would lean his weight, and he would confess upon the head of that goat all the sins and all the iniquities and all the transgressions of the people, and then it would be carried by the hand of a fit man into a land not inhabited, into the wilderness, let go. The sins would be removed. The high priest, in the meantime, he's in the linen garments, he's in the holy place, but when that procedure was all completed, the high priest would come out from the holy place, he would have changed his garments, and he would come out from there, and he would be again arrayed in his garments for glory and beauty.

And he would appear before the people, and the people would know he had survived the encounter with God, and God was satisfied with the provision of atonement for another year. It was a temporary system, but it was a picture of what is permanent. And you see, the Lord Jesus, by his death on the cross, he has put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and unto them that look for him, end of the chapter, shall he appear, shall he be visible the second time without the question of sin, unto salvation in all its fullness.

And that's when the Lord comes and manifests glory. Revelation chapter 19, many other scriptures, when he's manifested, he comes out from heaven upon that white horse. That's the answer to this, when he appears the second time without sin, unto salvation.

And I tell you, if the pictures beforehand vindicated him in his first coming, when the Lord appears in glory in all his majesty, that vindicates him in his second coming, doesn't it? Vindicated. That the one that they crucified as an imposter upon the cross at Calvary is, after all, the Lord of glory, the King of kings, the Lord of lords. And he's vindicated.

And not only him, but all the redeemed with him, all the saints from all ages. You say, you have to prove that. Well, Zechariah chapter 14, verse 5, end of the chapter, the Lord thy God shall come unto all thy saints with thee.

Tribulation saints have been raised at the end of the tribulation. They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Revelation chapter 11, Old Testament saints will be raised and judged.

First Thessalonians chapter 4, those that are in Christ will be raised or translated. And all the saints, they appear with them. Glorified.

Vindicated. Vindicated. So that when he appears in glory, we also shall appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3 and 3. And while the world might despise us and slight us and look upon us with disdain as they did the Savior, in that day, it's a day of vindication. A day of glory. And when he appears in glory, we'll be with him also in glory.

Brother and sister, you have a bright future. We look forward to it. We look for the Lord from heaven.

First for the rapture and then to appear with him in all that glory in that coming day. All foreshadowed back there in the Old Testament, but in glorious reality in that coming day. And you and I have a part in it.

Let's give thanks to God for that.