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The Remedy for Our Disease Msg 1422 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Livin · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: It happened off the coast of South China. The harbor
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  Speaker 1: that overlooked that area called Macau, Portuguese settlers many centuries
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  Speaker 1: ago built a massive cathedral. They took years to build it,
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  Speaker 1: and they thought it would stand forever. But in the
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  Speaker 1: passing of time, the force of the winds from a
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  Speaker 1: typhoon literally blew swept the thing into ruins, and the
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  Speaker 1: only thing that remained standing was the front wall that
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  Speaker 1: sort of stood like a massive fortress, at least from
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  Speaker 1: the front. And atop that wall was a huge bronze cross,
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  Speaker 1: and there it stood. In fact, it stood for centuries,
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  Speaker 1: almost as if to say, you can tear down the
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  Speaker 1: other part of this cathedral, but you will not You
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  Speaker 1: will not cause ruin to come upon this cross. It
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  Speaker 1: was in 1825 when Sir John Bowering was in a
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  Speaker 1: terrible storm in the harbor of Macau in that very
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  Speaker 1: same region. And as a matter of fact, he was shipwrecked.
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  Speaker 1: He had no idea, though it was in the light
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  Speaker 1: of day, he had no idea where there was land.
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  Speaker 1: if you've ever been at sea far enough, and if
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  Speaker 1: you've ever been in a storm, you know how you
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  Speaker 1: can lose your perspective and not even have an understanding
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  Speaker 1: of where land is. And here he was without anyone near,
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  Speaker 1: hanging on to the wreckage of the ship in this
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  Speaker 1: rugged harbor, sure to die. And what he really needed
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  Speaker 1: was some landmark. And he looked into the distance and
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  Speaker 1: all he could see was from where he was, was
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  Speaker 1: a tiny cross. It was that same massive cross on
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  Speaker 1: top of that wall that refused to fall. Within a
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  Speaker 1: matter of weeks after he reflected upon his remarkable rescue,
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  Speaker 1: he sat down and put into words his gratitude to
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  Speaker 1: God for the deliverance. Someone later put music to those words,
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  Speaker 1: and for the last 150 years and more, the church
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  Speaker 1: has sung the piece as one of its favorites. In
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  Speaker 1: the cross of Christ, I glory, towering o'er the wrecks
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  Speaker 1: of time. All the light of sacred story gathers round
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  Speaker 1: its head sublime. You may not remember that third stanza.
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  Speaker 1: When the woes of life o'ertake me, hopes deceive, fears annoy.
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  Speaker 1: Never shall the cross forsake me. Lo, it glows with
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  Speaker 1: peace and joy. That which led to Bowering's rescue from
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  Speaker 1: the sea has led to our rescue from sin. But
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  Speaker 1: we need to understand that it isn't the cross that
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  Speaker 1: we honor. I know we refer to giving honor to
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  Speaker 1: the cross. And we are to lift up the cross.
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  Speaker 1: And we often wear on our person, as a part
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  Speaker 1: of our apparel, a cross. But it isn't the cross.
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  Speaker 1: It isn't even those original cross beams. Those rugged, blood-soaked
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  Speaker 1: pieces of timber. that stood on Golgotha centuries ago that
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  Speaker 1: we honor. That's what gives me trouble every time I
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  Speaker 1: sing the old rugged cross. I realize I'm really on
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  Speaker 1: shaky ground now because some of you have it as
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  Speaker 1: your favorite song. But if you ever look closely at
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  Speaker 1: the words of that song, you'll see that the perspective
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  Speaker 1: is missing. Again, the symbolism is all right, but If
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  Speaker 1: you take it literally, you're way off doctrinally. We don't
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  Speaker 1: cling to the cross. We will not exchange it someday
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  Speaker 1: for a crown. It is not the wood. It is
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  Speaker 1: not the shape. And it is not the element. It
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  Speaker 1: is the one who hung on it that we honor.
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  Speaker 1: And by the way, every time you see a cross
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  Speaker 1: with someone on it, understand that person simply doesn't understand.
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  Speaker 1: The work is finished. He no more belongs on the
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  Speaker 1: cross than he belongs in the tomb. The cross is empty.
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  Speaker 1: The tomb is empty because he's finished his work on
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  Speaker 1: the cross. And he naturally has come down from the
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  Speaker 1: cross as he has come out of the grave to
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  Speaker 1: live for us. Referring, of course, to Jesus Christ. I
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  Speaker 1: was amazed in looking through the hymnal at how many
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  Speaker 1: of our songs and our Our hymns revolve around the
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  Speaker 1: subject of the cross. Lift high the cross at Calvary,
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  Speaker 1: down at the cross where my Savior died. When I
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  Speaker 1: survey the wondrous cross beneath the cross of Jesus, were
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  Speaker 1: you there when they nailed him to the tree? I
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  Speaker 1: saw one hanging on a tree, and I could go
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  Speaker 1: on 10 or 12 more familiar hymns that the church
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  Speaker 1: has sung down through the centuries. But again, remember, the
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  Speaker 1: cross is the symbol of what we honor. The cross
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  Speaker 1: itself is not the point of honor. I don't know
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  Speaker 1: if you remember that in the Old Testament, there was
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  Speaker 1: a reference to a bronze serpent that God gave the
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  Speaker 1: people of Israel. They were to look at that serpent
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  Speaker 1: and they would be healed from snake bite. And those
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  Speaker 1: who refused to look were not healed and those who
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  Speaker 1: looked were healed. And it served its purpose and many
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  Speaker 1: were delivered from death. simply because they looked at the
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  Speaker 1: bronze serpent. In fact, later, John refers to that bronze serpent.
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  Speaker 1: He said, even as Moses lifted up the serpent in
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  Speaker 1: the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
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  Speaker 1: that whoever believes in him would never perish, but have
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  Speaker 1: eternal life. Have you ever made a study of that
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  Speaker 1: bronze serpent? You know what the people of Israel did?
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  Speaker 1: You know, they dragged it around the wilderness. They dragged
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  Speaker 1: it on into the land and they carried it with
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  Speaker 1: them even into the days of the kings and the prophets.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, they burnt incense to it. They made a
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  Speaker 1: fetish out of this bronze serpent. Nothing wrong with the
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  Speaker 1: serpent and certainly nothing wrong with the idea, but it
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  Speaker 1: had served its purpose and they wouldn't give it up. Finally,
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  Speaker 1: one of the kings was led of God to put
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  Speaker 1: it aside. He gave it a name, Nehushtan, which means
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  Speaker 1: a piece of bronze, just a piece of bronze. Forgive
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  Speaker 1: me if this hits too close to home, but the
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  Speaker 1: cross itself is a piece of wood, just a piece
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  Speaker 1: of wood. It served its purpose and it's gone. But
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  Speaker 1: the Savior who died on that cross lives on. He
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  Speaker 1: is our glory. He is our adoration. So understand when
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  Speaker 1: you sing about the cross, understand you really are singing
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  Speaker 1: about the Christ who died on it. Now I, I
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  Speaker 1: want to talk for a while about the, um, the
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  Speaker 1: sacrifice of the savior. I, um, I realized when I
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  Speaker 1: mentioned that, and I'd like to have you turn back
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  Speaker 1: to Isaiah chapter 53. I realized when I mentioned that
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  Speaker 1: most of us will never in our lifetime witness a sacrifice.
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  Speaker 1: We've never seen one. We read of it a lot
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  Speaker 1: in the scriptures, but chances are good our eyes have
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  Speaker 1: never and will never behold a sacrifice. where an animal
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  Speaker 1: is killed to provide forgiveness for someone else. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: most of us have lived in the city most, if
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  Speaker 1: not all our lives, and we've never even seen an
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  Speaker 1: animal slaughtered. If you want to lose your appetite for beef,
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  Speaker 1: go to a slaughterhouse. You'll give it up quick until
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  Speaker 1: you're able to get the sight out of your mind.
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  Speaker 1: It is a bloody place. It is an awful place physically.
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  Speaker 1: It is a terrible place to look at. So it
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  Speaker 1: was with sacrifices. But you know, the interesting thing about
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  Speaker 1: this is that even though it's strange to us, it
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  Speaker 1: was as common to people in the early days as
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  Speaker 1: the courtroom scene is to us today. You can hardly...
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  Speaker 1: read the newspaper through without reading of some courtroom scene.
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  Speaker 1: It's a daily affair. The sacrifices in the ancient days
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  Speaker 1: were daily affairs. Blood flowed freely out of places of worship.
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  Speaker 1: Blood stained places. Altars of stone and wood for centuries.
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  Speaker 1: Sheep could be heard bleating and screaming and gagging and
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  Speaker 1: dying as priests slit their throat and poured the blood
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  Speaker 1: out on an altar. You see, in those days, they
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  Speaker 1: had priests in places of worship, just as we have
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  Speaker 1: attorneys in places of the court today. In those days,
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  Speaker 1: they listened to the laws of Moses, just as we
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  Speaker 1: today listen to the laws of the state and of
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  Speaker 1: our federal government. But that which tied people together with
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  Speaker 1: the living God was the blood sacrifice. And for just
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  Speaker 1: a few minutes time, I want to familiarize you with
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  Speaker 1: some things that maybe you haven't thought of before and
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  Speaker 1: certainly things you've never seen before. Now, in the Old Testament,
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  Speaker 1: there are two great predictions of Jesus' death on the cross.
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  Speaker 1: Lengthy predictions. One is in Psalm 22, and the other
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  Speaker 1: one is in Isaiah 53. Psalm 22 emphasizes his person.
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  Speaker 1: Isaiah 53 emphasizes his work. Psalm 22 helps you hear
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  Speaker 1: the agony of Christ on the cross. Isaiah 53 causes
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  Speaker 1: you to appreciate the completed work of Christ, which is
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  Speaker 1: predicted by the prophet. So for a few minutes, let's
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  Speaker 1: just take a look at the scene from the 53rd
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  Speaker 1: chapter of Isaiah. Who has believed our message, asks the prophet.
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  Speaker 1: And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
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  Speaker 1: And now referring to Christ yet to come in 750 years.
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  Speaker 1: He grew up before him like a tender shoot and
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  Speaker 1: like a root out of parched ground. He has no
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  Speaker 1: stately form or majesty that we should look upon him,
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  Speaker 1: nor appearance that we should be attracted to him. Now,
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  Speaker 1: understand exactly what that means. There was nothing in Jesus'
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  Speaker 1: physique that was attractive. There was nothing in his person
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  Speaker 1: as far as appearance was concerned that caused him to
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  Speaker 1: stand out from anyone else in his day. He looked
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  Speaker 1: like any other adult Jew. You would not have been
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  Speaker 1: attracted to him because of some glow that was upon him,
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  Speaker 1: for there was no such thing. When he walked across
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  Speaker 1: the sandy path, he got dirty like everyone else. When
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  Speaker 1: he slept, he slept like everyone else. When he arose
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  Speaker 1: in the morning, I would imagine his hair was must,
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  Speaker 1: just like everyone else's. He had all of the marks
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  Speaker 1: of humanity, just like we. The difference was that inside,
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  Speaker 1: he was perfect. He is God. He is deity. But
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  Speaker 1: you couldn't tell it from the outside. That's what the
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  Speaker 1: prophet means when he says his appearance... was not such
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  Speaker 1: that we would be attracted to him. And then suddenly
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  Speaker 1: he moves to the sacrifice. Look at what he says.
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  Speaker 1: He was despised and forsaken of men. A man of
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  Speaker 1: sorrows and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom
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  Speaker 1: men hide their face, he was despised. And we did
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  Speaker 1: not esteem him. The Amplified Bible says we did not
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  Speaker 1: appreciate his worth. There was no one in his day
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  Speaker 1: who realized the value of his person, the worth of
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  Speaker 1: his life. Oh, there were some who believed and there
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  Speaker 1: were some who acknowledged that he certainly did the work
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  Speaker 1: of God and there were some who believed he in
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  Speaker 1: fact was God. But they didn't have the true appreciation
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  Speaker 1: for him that now centuries later, as we've been able
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  Speaker 1: to reflect upon his life, that we have today. Not
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  Speaker 1: in that day. I've heard it said that in order
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  Speaker 1: for a person to become great and to be seen
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  Speaker 1: as great, that individual needs to die and be gone
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  Speaker 1: from the earth for many, many years. Then you realize
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  Speaker 1: the greatness. So it is with many of our presidents.
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  Speaker 1: So it is with many of our heroes. So it
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  Speaker 1: is with some of our missionaries. Great men and women,
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  Speaker 1: but it took their death for us to realize just
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  Speaker 1: how significant they were. So it is with Christ. We
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  Speaker 1: didn't esteem him. But now notice his work. Surely our
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  Speaker 1: griefs he himself bore. Our sorrows he carried. Yet we
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  Speaker 1: ourselves esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. Notice,
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  Speaker 1: if you will, it was our griefs, it was our sorrows,
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  Speaker 1: we ourselves are in the picture in verse 4. He
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  Speaker 1: is describing for us our need for the substitute. Our griefs,
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  Speaker 1: our sorrows, we ourselves smote him and despised him. Why? Well,
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  Speaker 1: we've been over that many times. Our depravity gives us blindness,
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  Speaker 1: and we do not value his worth in our depravity.
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  Speaker 1: He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed
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  Speaker 1: for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon him,
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  Speaker 1: and by his scourging we are healed. Peter picks up
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  Speaker 1: that same thought in the first letter, the second chapter,
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  Speaker 1: as he refers... Well, I'm going to have you look
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  Speaker 1: at that. 1 Peter 2, toward the end of the chapter.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 21, 1 Peter 2, 21. For you have been
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  Speaker 1: called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you,
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  Speaker 1: See the substitute in action? He suffered for you, leaving
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  Speaker 1: you an example for you to follow in his steps.
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  Speaker 1: And what about him? He committed no sin, nor was
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  Speaker 1: any deceit found in his mouth. While being reviled, now
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  Speaker 1: he's on the cross, he's suffering. While being reviled, he
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  Speaker 1: did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats,
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  Speaker 1: but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. Now
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  Speaker 1: the verse I wanted you to see. He himself bore
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  Speaker 1: our sins in his body on the tree or on
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  Speaker 1: the cross that we might die to sin and live
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  Speaker 1: to righteousness for by his wounds you were healed. Literally,
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  Speaker 1: the word wounds is singular. For by his stripe, wealth, bruise.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, Peter, who was an eyewitness at that time,
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  Speaker 1: Peter pictures our Savior as one massive welt, one awful bruise.
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  Speaker 1: I will never forget an experience I had in elementary school.
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  Speaker 1: I was living in Houston and And I was going
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  Speaker 1: to a little school on the east side of Houston.
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  Speaker 1: And sitting in front of me was a fellow who, well,
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  Speaker 1: we became friends over the years because we sat near
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  Speaker 1: each other and we were in those same grades right
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  Speaker 1: up through high school. And I'll never forget coming to
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  Speaker 1: school one day and seeing marks on his shirt as
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  Speaker 1: he sat in front of me. And I reached up
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  Speaker 1: and I called his name and I said, you have
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  Speaker 1: something on your shirt. He didn't want to talk to
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  Speaker 1: me about that. When we went outside for recess, and
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  Speaker 1: I mentioned it again because by now it was coming through,
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  Speaker 1: he said, come here, I want to show you something.
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  Speaker 1: So we went in the boy's room and he lifted
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  Speaker 1: his shirt up. And I have never seen such stripes
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  Speaker 1: in my life. He had been beaten by his father.
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  Speaker 1: His father was an alcoholic, I found out later. And
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  Speaker 1: it wasn't uncommon for the boy to be battered by
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  Speaker 1: his dad. And he said, yeah, I'll show you why
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  Speaker 1: my shirt is like that. And he lifted up his
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  Speaker 1: shirt and I looked across his back and I couldn't
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  Speaker 1: stand what I saw. It was just one massive bruise.
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  Speaker 1: So sore that he could hardly breathe. stand it just
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  Speaker 1: the weight of his shirt on his back when I
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  Speaker 1: read by his stripe by his welt by his bruise
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  Speaker 1: you were healed I always think of that that boy's
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  Speaker 1: back but now this isn't simply a back this is
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  Speaker 1: a body This is a person. This is the Savior.
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  Speaker 1: That's why Isaiah, we'll turn back now, that's why Isaiah
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  Speaker 1: describes him as being pierced through, crushed, chastened, and scourged.
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  Speaker 2: Why?
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  Speaker 1: Why did that happen? Verse 6, because all of us
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  Speaker 1: This is probably the clearest definition of depravity in one
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  Speaker 1: verse in all the Old Testament. All of us, like sheep,
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  Speaker 1: have gone astray. Each one of us, look at how
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  Speaker 1: it changes. First there's the universal all, and now there's
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  Speaker 1: the individual each one. Each of us has turned to
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  Speaker 1: his own way. Now grace comes to our rescue where
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  Speaker 1: sin abounds, grace super abounds, but the Lord has caused
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  Speaker 1: the iniquity of us all to fall on him. Thomas
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  Speaker 1: Chisholm in 1941 wrote these words that became a favorite
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  Speaker 1: gospel hymn of the church for years. He was wounded
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  Speaker 1: for our transgressions. He bore our sins in his body
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  Speaker 1: on the tree. For our guilt, he gave us peace.
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  Speaker 1: from our bondage gave release. And with his stripes, and
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  Speaker 1: with his stripes, and with his stripes, our souls are healed.
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  Speaker 1: He was numbered among transgressors. We did esteem him forsaken
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  Speaker 1: by his God. As our sacrifice, he died. Let the
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  Speaker 1: law be satisfied. And all our sin, and all our sin,
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  Speaker 1: and all our sin was laid on him. Now, I
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  Speaker 1: think we can overdo the physical part of the cross.
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  Speaker 1: I think I have perhaps been guilty of doing that
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  Speaker 1: in days past, and maybe you've heard sermons that emphasize
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  Speaker 1: the awful agony of the cross, and it was terrible.
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  Speaker 1: There has not been in the history of man, I'm convinced,
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  Speaker 1: no more painful way to die than to be crucified.
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  Speaker 1: But it isn't the physical pain that is the worst part.
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  Speaker 1: It was the awful separation that occurred between the son
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  Speaker 1: and the father when all the sin was placed on
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  Speaker 1: the sacrifice. For the first and only time in all time,
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  Speaker 1: the father and the son were separated. because God the
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  Speaker 1: Father could not look upon sin, he turned away from
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  Speaker 1: his son, causing the Lord Jesus to scream, Eloi, Eloi,
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  Speaker 1: lama sabachthani. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
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  Speaker 1: The reason was that he was at that moment bearing
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  Speaker 1: all of our iniquity which had fallen upon him. Now,
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  Speaker 1: why did he have to do that? Why was it
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  Speaker 1: necessary for that terrible moment to occur? The explanation of
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  Speaker 1: the sacrifice takes us way back into the handbook of worship.
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  Speaker 1: that the Jews used for centuries, the book of Leviticus.
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  Speaker 1: Now I want you to crack open your Bible, break
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  Speaker 1: open those gold leaf pages that you have not yet
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  Speaker 1: looked into in Leviticus and find chapter four. And for
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  Speaker 1: a few moments, I want us to see some thoughts
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  Speaker 1: on sacrifice. In fact, I want to show you Four
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  Speaker 1: stages that occurred when someone came with a sacrifice to
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  Speaker 1: offer before God. And a lot of this will become
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  Speaker 1: very clear to you. Because we haven't ever seen such things,
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  Speaker 1: this is like, well, cutting a new swath. You and
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  Speaker 1: I will never witness this scene literally ever again. As
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  Speaker 1: it was done in those days for so long a time.
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  Speaker 1: Because he has been once for all sacrificed for us.
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  Speaker 1: Never to be sacrificed again. But in those days when
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  Speaker 1: a sinner found himself in sin. And therefore broken in
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  Speaker 1: fellowship with his or her God. It was essential that
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  Speaker 1: there be an animal sacrifice. Sometime it was with a goat,
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  Speaker 1: sometime with a bull, sometime with a heifer, sometime with
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  Speaker 1: a dove, sometime with a pigeon, on occasion with a sheep.
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  Speaker 1: And it's all spelled out in this ancient book of
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  Speaker 1: worship used by the Jews and carried out by the Levites.
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  Speaker 1: Leviticus has the same root as Levites. Now, in this
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  Speaker 1: fourth chapter, you will see in simple form the process.
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  Speaker 1: The first stage The sinner brings an animal without defect
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  Speaker 1: to the altar. Let me read the first three verses.
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  Speaker 1: Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: sons of Israel, saying, If a person sins unintentionally in
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: any of the things which the Lord has commanded not
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: to be done and commits any of them, if the
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  Speaker 1: anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people,
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  Speaker 1: Then let him offer to the Lord a bull. Now
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  Speaker 1: in this case, it's a bull that's to be brought.
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  Speaker 1: Let him offer a bull, note carefully, and mark in
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  Speaker 1: your Bible without defect. Without defect. As a sin offering
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  Speaker 1: for the sin he has committed. Now, it's simple. As
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  Speaker 1: soon as you realize there has come a Sin in
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  Speaker 1: your life, intentional or unintentional. Priest or common person. Whether
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  Speaker 1: of the tribe of Levi or any of the other. Whatever.
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  Speaker 1: You realize the sin issue has separated you from fellowship
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  Speaker 1: with your God. Then you bring an animal. That's the
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  Speaker 1: first step. Not any animal, but an animal that is
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: to be without defect. Second part, or the second stage. Fourth.
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  Speaker 1: Verse four says the sinner is to lay his hand
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  Speaker 1: on the animal. He shall bring the bull to the
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  Speaker 1: doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, and
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull. Now,
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: this is the job of the priest who, in this case,
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  Speaker 1: is the sinner. So he takes his hand and he
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: lays his hands upon the head of the animal. Now,
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  Speaker 1: why does he do that? This symbolizes the transfer of
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: guilt from himself to the animal. I don't know how.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: I don't know why. I can only tell you what
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: God required. The same answer I give for why the
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: choice of the Jews, not because they were more in
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: number than any people, not because they were better than
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: any people. Not because they had accomplished some special work
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: that caused God to look upon them with favor. No.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Simply out of grace, he chose the Jews. Simply because
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: of God's sovereign will, he chose the animal. And he
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: chose the laying on of hands. So the animal is
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: brought and the hands are laid on the animal. Now,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: verse 4 continues. The third stage. And slay the bull
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  Speaker 1: before the Lord. So the animal is to be killed.
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  Speaker 1: Hold your place right here and look over in chapter 5,
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: verses 7, 8, and 9. If he cannot afford a lamb,
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: then he shall bring to the Lord his guilt offering
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: for that in which he has sinned two turtle doves
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: or two young pigeons, one for a sin offering and
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  Speaker 1: the other for a burnt offering. He shall bring them
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: to the priest who shall offer first that which is
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: for the sin offering. Look at this. you'll never read
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: this anywhere else, and shall nip its head at the
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: front of its neck, but he shall not sever it.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: And he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: sin offering on the side of the altar, while the
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: rest of the blood shall be drained out at the
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: base of the altar. It is a sin offering. Have
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: you ever read anything like that before in your life?
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: Just nip, just nip right at the neck so that
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: there is a sprinkling of the blood and it will
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: be sprinkled on the side and the rest will drain
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: down to the base of the altar. It is all
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: so clearly defined so that they even knew how to
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: offer the sacrifice. Before I go any further, I have
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: to say that the, uh, the, the The key verse
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: in the book of Leviticus is chapter 17, verse 11.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: So you're still holding on to chapter 4. Go to 17, 11.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: This will help make some of it clearer. Why all
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: the blood? Why the animal? Why the altar? Because God stated,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: Leviticus 17, 11, that the life of the flesh is
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: in the blood. And I have given it to you
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: on the altar to make atonement. Look at the word atonement.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: It's mentioned twice. If you divide it into syllables, you
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: will find at-one-ment.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: Right?
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  Speaker 1: By the shedding of blood... Two will be brought as one.
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: This blood will make division now unit. Separate now together.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: It will bring at one meant. The Hebrew term kafar,
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: just think of the word cover. Cover. That's the word here.
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: This blood will cover over sins. Atonement is an all-inclusive
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: word that describes in general all that Jesus Christ accomplished
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: by his death on the cross. Etymologically, atonement is the
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: combination of the syllables at-one-ment, meaning being at one with someone.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: The original term means to cover, carrying the thought of
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: putting sin out of sight and by covering it over
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: with blood. Now back to Leviticus chapter 4. We have
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: the animal brought by the sinner. We have the hands
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: of the priest on the head of the animal. We
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: have the animal slain at the altar and the blood
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: is spilled. Now the fourth stage, verses 5, 6, and
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: 7 of chapter 4. Then the anointed priest is to
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: take some of the blood of the bull and bring
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: it to the tent of meeting. And the priest shall
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: the blood seven times before the Lord in front of
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: the veil of the sanctuary. The priest shall also put
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: some of the blood on the horns of the altar
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: of fragrant incense, which is before the Lord in the
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: tent of meeting, and all the blood of the bull
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: he shall pour out at the base of the altar
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: of burnt offering, which is at the doorway of the
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: tent of meeting. Don't tell me blood wasn't important. Not
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: only the sprinkling of it, not only seven times, but
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: it will be drained of its blood and that blood
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: will be used in a certain way. The details of
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: it aren't important to me right now. It's the idea
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: of it. You see, since the earliest days as these
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: Jews connected at one minute with their Lord, There was
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: the emphasis on blood and sacrifices. I mean, the sheep
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: that were slain at Passover were slain by the thousands.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: By the thousands. The blood literally ran from Jerusalem. It
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: was a common sight. And the people were witnesses of it.
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: They realized its importance. And it was simply a part
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: of their culture. Think of the treadmill of the priestly job.
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: You who minister today, you know how at times some
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: of our work can become a little monotonous. To people
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: on the outside, you don't think of it that way.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: You think ministry just must go from one ecstasy to another,
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: one delight to another. But there are some monotonous assignments
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: connected with the task of ministries. But nothing that monotonous.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: Just think of killing the animals and killing the animals
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: and pouring out the blood and pouring out the blood.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: Moffat speaks of the Levitical drudges. Constant emphasis on blood.
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: You know what? It never took away sins permanently. Never.
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: Never.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: You found relief, you found forgiveness, and you went on
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: your way rejoicing only to sin again and to bring
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: another animal. And annually to come before the Lord your
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: God and have that sacrifice again, reminding you of your sin. Sin, sin, sin.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: That's what caused Luther when he finally turned the corner
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: and began his thoughts on the reformation. He was literally
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: wallowing in his cell as he could be heard saying, oh,
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: my sin, my sin, my sin, my sin, my sin.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: Sin conscious, nothing but sin. You have any idea how
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: many people live like that religiously? That is their frame
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: of reference. No better than those who brought animal after
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: animal and pail of blood after pail of blood, just
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: altar after altar after altar. And it never takes away sins.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: Until Christ. When Christ died on that cross and poured
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: out his blood, he said, it is finished. Tetelestai.
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: It's over.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: It's complete. It's done. Once for all. Finished. You'll never
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: offer another sacrifice. It's not needed. This finishes the task. Now,
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: that isn't my idea. That's what Hebrews chapter 10 tells us.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: So before we finalize our thoughts in 2 Corinthians 5,
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: just to look at Hebrews. What a statement this is
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: in Hebrews 10. For the law. since it has only
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: a shadow of the good things to come and not
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: the very form of things, can never, by the same
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, see the monotony?
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: They can never make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise,
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: would they not have ceased to be offered? Because the worshipers,
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: of sin. That would have done it. You would have
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: walked away and said, Praise God, that's it. I'm through
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: with all the animals, through with all the altar, through
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: with all the blood sacrifices, but it could never be said.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: Verse 3, but in those sacrifices there is a reminder
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: of sins year by year. For it's impossible for the
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Meaning permanently.
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: Drop down to verse 10. By this will we have
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily ministering
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: and offering time after time the same sacrifices which can
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: never permanently take away sins. But he, having offered one
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: right hand of God. Isn't that great? He never has
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: to stand, never has to die again. One time, the
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: father said, I am satisfied. How do we know he's satisfied?
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: He raised him from the grave. He brought him back
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: from death. As one man has said, The resurrection was
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: God's amen to Christ's. It is finished. It is finished.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: That's the death of Christ. The resurrection. Amen. I believe it.
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: I am satisfied. The theological word is propitiated. I am propitiated.
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: I am satisfied. Now, the wonderful message of all of
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: this is that if God is satisfied with the death
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: of his son, and if I am in Christ, he
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: is satisfied with me. I don't have to live under
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: the horror of working, working, working, pleading, pleading, pleading to
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: find favor with my God. Nearer, nearer, nearer I cannot
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: be for in the person of God. son I am
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: as near as he. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. This is
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: the declaration of the Savior. I want you to write
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: down six words if you like to take notes on
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: certain points of a message. Three statements, two words each.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: The first statement, spotless lamb. Remember those words, no defect?
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: I told you to mark. Here we have this no
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: defect lamb. Verse 21, 2 Corinthians 5. He, God, made
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: him Christ who knew no sin. There's the no defect.
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: There's the spotless lamb. He made him who knew no sin. Now, secondly,
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: write sinner substitute. To be sin on our behalf. Remember
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: the laying of hands on the animal? God, as it were,
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: placed his hands on his son and said, the sins
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: of all mankind are transferred to you. At this awful moment,
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: you bear those sins. And he did. And he did
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: it on our behalf. That's the wonderful part of this message.
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: He who knew no sin was made sin on our behalf. Third,
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: righteousness provided that we might become the righteousness of God
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: in him. I call that great news. Thankfully, it is
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: all done. It is all finished. It is provided for
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: me as a sinner if I will simply come to
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: Christ who has done the work for me. He has
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: taken my punishment and graciously borne it on my behalf.
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: Cliff Barrows, the song leader of the Billy Graham crusade ministry,
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: has ingratiated himself to many of us. We love him dearly.
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: He tells a story that I want to pass on
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: to you. It has to do with his children when
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: they were younger. They had disobeyed. He said they had
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: done something I had forbidden them to do. I told
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: them if they did the same thing again, I would
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: have to discipline them. When I returned from work and
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: found that they hadn't minded me, the heart went out
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: of me. I just couldn't discipline them. Any loving father
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: can understand Cliff's dilemma. Most of us have been in
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: the same position. He continued, Bobby and Betty Ruth were
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: very small. I called him into my room, took off
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: my belt, and then my shirt. With a bare back,
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: I knelt down at the bed. I made them both
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: strap me with the belt ten times each. You should
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: have heard the crying. For them, I mean. The crying
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: was from them. They didn't want to do it. But
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: I told them the penalty had to be paid. And
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: so through their sobs and tears, they did what I
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: told him. Cliff smiled when he remembered the incident. He said,
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: I must admit, I wasn't much of a hero. It hurt.
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: I haven't offered to do that again yet. It was
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: a once-for-all sacrifice, I guess we could say. But I
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: never had to spank those two children again. because they
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: got the point. We kissed each other, and when it
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: was over, we prayed together. Something remarkable happens inside us
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: when we realize that somebody who didn't deserve it took
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: our place and bore the punishment we deserve, leaving us
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: absolutely free And clear. There's something inside the heart of
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: the forgiven that says, I will love that person forever
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: and ever and ever. Now that's what Christ has done
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: for you at the cross. No wonder John Bowering would write,
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: in the cross of Christ, my glory. towering o'er the
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: wrecks of time, all the light of sacred story gathers
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: round his head, sublime. I'd like us to bow together.
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: In order for there to be a relationship with God,
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: we must come to God on God's terms, understanding that
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: we are lost. And in order for him to become
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: our righteousness, our perfection, we must be in Christ, His Son.
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: That happens by faith, by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: When that occurs, the surgery of the soul takes place.
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: God reaches in and declares us righteous, canceling our debt
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: that has been against us and giving us in turn
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: His righteousness. That comes by our believing in His Son, Jesus.
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: I urge you to do that now. Let me pray. Father,
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: thank you for making the message clear as we have
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: worked our way through this study. Thank you for giving
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: us Christ and with him all things richly to enjoy.
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: Thank you for the debt he paid and paid in
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: full on our behalf. Thank you, Father, that we can
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: know your righteousness in our position and a life of
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: righteousness and holiness in far different from what we could
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: have ever lived on our own. Thank you for making
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: us right with yourself through faith in your Son. I
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: pray that those who've never come to know you will
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: do so now by simply believing in him, taking the
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: gift that you offer by faith. In Jesus' name, I
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: ask this.
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: Amen. was copyrighted in 1985, 1987, 2005, 2011, and 2014,
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2014 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 46:26
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.