Our Lord’s Entrance Within the Veil

Our Lord's Entrance Within the Veil

DELIVERED ON LORD'S DAY MORNING, MARCH 17, 1889,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He
entered the Most Holy Place once and for all, having obtained eternal
redemption for us." Hebrews 9:12.

UNDER the old covenant the Lord was set forth to the people as dwelling
apart, within the veil. A thick tapestry hung before the Most Holy
Place and thus concealed the light which symbolized the Presence of
God. Within the inner sanctuary Jehovah dwelt apart and none entered
the sacred precincts except one man, and he, but once a year. The great
teaching was that God is hidden from men–sin has made a division
between man and God. The way of approach is not yet made manifest. Yet,
even then, there was a hint given that an entrance would be made
manifest eventually.

Remember, the division was not a piece of brickwork, nor even an
arrangement of cedar overlaid with gold–it was a veil which, once each
year was solemnly lifted, that the high priest might pass beneath. This
hinted that sinful men were yet to be permitted to draw near unto the
Most Holy God, through the Christ of God. That, I say, was implied–if
men had faith enough to spy it out. Three hundred and sixty-four days
in the year the teaching was, "No admission"–one day out of the three
hundred and sixty-five, the teaching was, "A way of access will yet be
shown."

Now, beloved Friends, the priests of old, the holy and the Most Holy
Place were only "patterns of things in the heavens." They were not the
things, themselves. In them we see instructive types and symbols but
nothing more. How greatly we may rejoice as we read the eleventh verse
of the chapter before us! It begins with "But." And, oh, what a blessed
"but" for you and for me! Up till then religion dealt with externals
such as meats and drinks and washings and carnal ordinances and priests
who could only offer the blood of bulls and of goats. But the coming of
the Messiah changed all this. We pass from shadow to substance–

"Finished all the types and shadows Of the ceremonial Law."

Now have Divine Grace and the Truth of God come by Jesus Christ. Read
on–"Christ came." How the bells ring out joyously–"Christ came." It
was the music of Bethlehem–"Christ came." It was the song of Anna and
Simeon– "Christ came." This will be the joy of the whole earth when
once earth understands her truest privilege–"Christ came." The good
things were still come for many a year. But now "Christ came," we have
them in possession. No son of Aaron stands before us but the Christ,
the truly Anointed One, commissioned of the Lord to introduce man to
his offended God. Anointed by the eternal Spirit without measure, the
Lord Jesus Christ appears in the end of the world to put away sin by
the sacrifice of Himself and then to destroy the separating veil by
going in unto the Father.

If I had to tell you today that a Savior would in due time be born and
would offer a sacrifice for sin, there would be great joy in the
news–but we have something far better. For the Anointed One has
appeared and fulfilled His course. He has been here among the sons of
men. The Incarnate God–"Immanuel, God with us," the true High Priest
for men in things pertaining to God. Again, I say, let the bells
joyously ring out–"Christ came." He is "an High Priest of good things
to come." Things which were in the olden time "things to come," are
things present at this hour. For Jesus has brought to light the
precious things of the Covenant, which kings and Prophets desired to
see. Yet even now there are good things in the future. "Eye has not
seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the
things which God has prepared for them that love Him."

The Lord Jesus has brought all good things to those who believe in Him,
that they may rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Good
things to come find their way here by the Mediator. God Himself has
come among men in the Person of the Lord Jesus who has taken our nature
into union with His Godhead. Our Immanuel was born at Bethlehem,

He dwelt at Nazareth, He died on Calvary and He has now gone up on High
because His work is finished and the reward of it is given.

The striking point to which I call your attention is this–while our
Lord was here, He was comparable to the high priest when he stood on
the outside of the veil. I want you to remember that fact. Outside is
the place of sinful men. Did the holy Jesus ever stand there? He did.
His sacrifice was of necessity offered without the veil and as a sign
thereof–"He suffered without the gate." The fact is evident that our
Lord suffered by being forsaken of God. The veil hung thick between Him
and God till His great sacrifice was accepted–in testimony whereof
hear you not that bitter cry, the bitterest that ever came from human
lips–"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

Our High Priest then stood on the outside of the veil. But after He had
presented His sacrifice, after it had been consumed with fire, He
passed within the veil and rose to the Throne of the eternal God. He
entered Heaven as a priest, in all the solemnity of accomplished
sacrifice. "He entered the Most Holy Place once and for all, having
obtained eternal redemption." Upon that august entrance I shall try to
speak this morning. But I am very conscious of my want of power to do
so. Thought is shallow, speech is stammering in the presence of a theme
so high, so deep. Come, Holy Spirit, and in Your infinite compassion,
reveal our great High Priest to all Your waiting ones now!

I. First, Beloved, I shall call your attention to THE SACRIFICE OF HIS
ENTERING. "Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own
blood He entered." We have, this morning, taken for our lesson the
sixteenth chapter of Leviticus–may I ask you all to study it with
care? There we saw that the high priest, once each year entered the
Most Holy Place but "not without blood." Our Savior, as God and Man in
one Person, standing in the sinner's place, could not enter within the
veil until first He had presented a sacrifice. By blood even He must
enter. That blood must be His own. Let us think about His sacrifice.

We note concerning it, first, that the sacrifice presented by our Lord
was unique. It was "His own blood" that he of-fered–blood from the
veins of a man. But what a man! Remember how He Himself said
it–"Sacrifice and offering you would not: but a body have You prepared
Me." The body of Christ was especially prepared of God for this great
sacrifice. Though we rightly speak of our Lord as "clothed in a body
like our own," yet we may not forget that, in some points, His humanity
was peculiar. He was without spot. In His birth He received no taint of
original sin. Was it not said to the virgin, "The Holy Spirit shall
come upon you and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you:
therefore also that holy Thing which shall be born of you shall be
called the Son of God"?

Thus the Person of our Lord was unique among men and it is that pure
Personality which was presented as an offering to the Lord. He was pure
and holy, and therefore able to bear the sin of others, since He had
none of His own. God especially prepared His body for the indwelling of
the Deity and He stands before us as a Personage, the likes of which
neither Heaven nor earth contains. God is pure Spirit but this sacred
Person has a Body–man has no pretensions to Divinity but this glorious
One counts it not robbery to be equal with God. He is God and Man in
one Person by a marvelous unity which we believe but can never
comprehend. And as our Mediator, by the eternal Spirit, He offered
Himself without spot unto God. This singular sacrifice deserves our
singular faith.

The sacrifice of our Lord was, in the highest sense, substitutionary.
The penalty of sin is death. And Jesus died. All through the old Law
there is no atonement except by the death of a victim. Indeed, this is
what God has said from the beginning, even in the Garden. Still is this
the sentence of the Law–"The soul that sins, it shall die." Sin
necessitates death. The Lord Jesus Christ did not come to earth to make
a reconciliation by the holiness of His life, or by the earnestness of
His teaching but by His death. The text says, "With His own blood he
entered."

He must die in the place of guilty men before He could enter Heaven on
their behalf. Just as the calves and the bullocks in the type were
slain and their blood poured out before God, so must Jesus be slain in
the sinner's place. O Beloved, let us cling to the great Truth of God
of the vicarious sacrifice which is the chief teaching of this sacred
Book. Take this away and I do not see anything left in the Bible at all
which can be called good news. The very soul of the doctrine of Christ
is atonement by His death–

"He bore, that we might never bear, His Father's righteous ire."

The victim was killed, but it was also consumed by the holy fire upon
the altar of God. Our Lord offered up Himself unto God, not only by the
death which came from the Cross, but by the consuming of soul which
came from the horror of bearing human sin.

The tempest of sin's consequences burst upon the innocent head of the
great Substitute–the thunder cloud emptied its dire contents upon His
soul. He, voluntarily putting Himself in our place, bore the result of
that substitution. Out of infinite love Jesus became an offering for
sin. Not of compulsion but of His own sacred choice He became the
sin-offering for the sinner, that the sinner might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. "Who His own self bore our sins in His own
body on the tree." This we know and in this great truth we steadfastly
abide. What other hope have we?

The sacrifice which our Lord presented before He went within the veil
was personal. Stress should be laid upon the word "own" here. "Not with
the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood." The Lord Jesus
did not bring before God the sufferings of others or the merits of
others but His own life and death. "He poured out His soul unto death."
I will repeat the text which I quoted just now, for it is well worth
repeating a thousand times. "Who His own self bore our sins in His own
body on the tree." "He loved me and gave Himself for me." Aaron could
not do this–the blood he brought was not his own. And if he could by
any strange imagination be supposed to bring his own blood, yet it
could only have been for himself, since his death was due to God as the
punishment of his own individual sin.

Our Lord owed nothing to the justice of God on His own account–He was
"holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." And, therefore when
He took our place it was that He might voluntarily offer up His own
sacrifice of personal suffering and personal death–yielding up His
whole being as a sacrifice in our place. When He hangs naked upon the
tree, I dare not look–but with tears in my eyes, I worship. I
acknowledge with deepest love how absolutely He gave up everything on
my behalf, reserving not even a rag of Himself nor an atom of Himself.
"He saved others, Himself He could not save." It was, in the most
emphatic sense, a personal sacrifice.

In that sacrifice none could share and in the after-entrance none could
have a part at the time. Read Leviticus 16:17–"There shall be no man
in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make an atonement in
the Holy Place, until he comes out that he may make an atonement for
himself, for his household and for all the assembly of Israel." Even in
sympathy we cannot enter the inner shrine of His sacrifice. In their
innermost depths they are unapproachable. Jesus treads the winepress
alone. Gethsemane–who can stand in the garden and view the bloody
sweat and hear the deep groaning of that mighty heart? Even the favored
three are overcome with sorrow and fall asleep–

"Who can penetrate through you, Lonesome, dark Gethsemane?"

But as for Calvary, where the darkness was denser still–till midday
turned to midnight, as an emblem of what was going on–into that awful
blackness we cannot peer. "Your unknown sufferings" still remains one
of the best descriptive expressions concerning that which can never be
described. All this, I say, was His own personal grief for sins in
which He had no personal share–this was His sacrifice of entrance.

I cannot dwell long on any one point. But, I pray you, treasure these
Truths of God which are more to be valued than much fine gold. This
sacrifice of His was of transcendent value. Think who He was that was
offered! The Son of the Highest offered His own self unto God. There
was never such another as He, as we have already said, for He was God
and Man in one Person. And it was this Divine Person that was offered
up a sacrifice without the veil, that He might enter within it. I
cannot imagine a limit to the value of the sacrifice of Christ–I hope
none of you will ever try to do so. When He gave Himself up as a
sacrifice, there was a greater recompense made to the justice of God
than if the whole human race had been consumed.

When God Himself comes here to stand in the sinner's place, the Law
obtains a fuller vindication than if worlds of guilty ones had borne
its penalty. When the Law-Giver Himself bears the penalty of the
breaking of the Law, the Law is made honorable and it is plainly
demonstrated that God will not spare the guilty but that every
transgression must receive its penalty. When even the innocent
Substitute is made to die because sin is laid upon Him, we are sure
that sin is exceedingly hateful to God. Therefore the sacrifice of our
Lord was of transcendent value.

This sacrifice, let men nowadays say what they will, was made in
reference to human guilt. The passage I read to you in Leviticus
insists upon this. The blood was sprinkled in the Holy Place, "because
of the uncleanness of the children of Israel and because of their
transgressions in all their sins." Our Lord Jesus has put away sin by
the sacrifice of Himself.

His death was not merely an example, nor simply a display of Divine
love. "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world."
His death dealt with our uncleanness–it cleans us from all sin. "Once
at the end of the ages has He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself." And this had reference to God. The sacrifice of the Day of
Atonement was not seen by the people and its blood was not sprinkled
where they could look upon it–it was for the Lord only.

God, the infinitely loving One, because of the very infinity of His
love, cannot look upon sin without displeasure, seeing it is man's
worst enemy. He must punish the sinner when he dares to break the
perfect Law. The sacrifice is, therefore, needed to show the Lord's
hatred of evil and His resolve to be just. Jesus did not die to make
God merciful, as some falsely say that we teach. But because God was
merciful Jesus died–that there might be a clear passage for Divine
mercy, without the violation of Divine justice. Jesus did not die to
make God love sinners for He always did love them. But that His love
might be exercised in consistency with holiness it was necessary that
the Law should be vindicated and the threat against sin should not
become a dead letter.

You see, then, the entrance offering which our Lord presented outside
the veil. Come and partake in its cleansing effects.

II. Let us now notice THE MANNER OF HIS ENTRANCE. We are told in the
text, "He entered the Most Holy

Place once." Much emphasis is to be laid upon that word "once."

It has been done, then, once. Once has He offered up Himself without
spot unto God. Once has He lifted the veil and passed into the Holy
Place of fullest fellowship with God on our behalf. It has been done!
Oh clap your hands for very mirth! Let your harps ring out loudly and
sweetly with excessive joy. Jesus has entered in. Our Head and
Representative is with God. It is not a thing to be worked out in the
future but it has been accomplished. His sacrifice had an immediate
efficacy. On the spot it availed to open the kingdom of Heaven. From
the Cross the Forsaken One entered into His kingdom as the Beloved of
God.

To prove how complete was the effect of His sacrifice, He went into the
Heaven of God at once. "It is finished." The proof is that Jesus
entered in once within the veil. It means, however, that it was only
once. Once only has Jesus made entrance officially into the heavenly
places. For, by that one entrance He has made the way open and
manifest. His offering has been made once, and no more. And so it is
written, "Not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest
enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another. He then
would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but
now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of Himself."

No, there is not a repeated offering of Christ to God, nor a repeated
taking possession of Heaven on our behalf. "Once and for all" the work
is done. Jude tells us that "once and for all" the faith was delivered
to the saints–it is a final act which is so complete that it needs no
repeating. The entrance of our Lord once and for all into the Holy
Place has secured the entrance of His people. It was once and it cannot
be twice, because it was so effectual. And this is set forth by the
Evangelists–for when our Lord entered the Holy Place, the veil was
rent. The Holy of Holies was laid open–its enclosure was thrown down.
What if I say that the inner shrine has expanded itself and taken in
the Holy Place and now all places are holy where true hearts seek their
God?

Had our High Priest merely lifted the veil and passed in, we might have
supposed that the veil fell back again–but since the veil of the
temple was rent in two, from the top to the bottom, there can be no
need for a new entrance. For that which hinders is taken away. No veil
now hangs between God and His chosen people–we may come boldly to the
Throne of Grace. Blessed be the name of our Lord who has entered in
"once"!

And now, Beloved, He has entered into the Holy Place once in the sense
that He has entered in the fullest and most complete manner. When the
High Priest went up to the Mercy Seat, he drew near to the symbol of
God but not necessarily near to God Himself. But our Lord Jesus Christ,
as Mediator, came so near to God that no nearness could be greater. He
always was in His Godhead one with the Father–but as God and Man in
one Person, He is now forever with God. He says, "I and My Father are
One." The nearness of the God-man Christ Jesus to His Father is
something to think upon with reverent pleasure. For, remember–

"In the Person of His Son We are as near as He."

Christ has gone into the glory of the Father and He has made a way for
us to enter into like nearness. The road is open, the access is
free–God meets us and invites us to meet Him. He waits to speak with
us, as a man speaks with his friend. I wish I knew how to put this
before you. But I fail. I pray you to think it over. Let these feeble
words suffice to suggest to you the manner of His entrance as set forth
by the word "once."

III. But now, thirdly, let us consider THE OBJECTS OF HIS ENTRANCE.
What did our Lord Jesus Christ do by

His entrance within the veil? What comes of it?

It means, first, that He made atonement within the veil. He cleansed
the heavenly places. Read the twenty-third verse of the chapter before
us–"Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the
heavens should be purified with these." How it startles us to read such
words! Was the heavenly place, itself, defiled? No, that cannot be. But
if you and I had gone there without atonement by blood, Heaven would
have been defiled. Look at the crowds of once sinful men and women who
are daily entering there to dwell with God. How could they go there if
the heavenly places had not been prepared for them?

Look at the multitude of our prayers and praises that are daily going
up there! Are they not all, in a measure, impure, and would it not have
defiled Heaven to accept them? But the Lord has gone there and has
sprinkled His blood upon the Mercy Seat so that our prayers and
praises, yes, and ourselves also, may enter without any hindrance. Even
if the guilty are taken up to dwell with God and our poor prayers are
accepted of God, neither we nor our prayers carry any defilement into
the Holy Place because the atoning blood is there beforehand. After
Heaven has sucked up into itself so much of the sinnerhood of earth, it
remains as pure as it was when only God and His holy angels dwelt
therein. While men that were once steeped in sin are permitted to come
and sit at the right hand of God, God remains as rigorously righteous
as if no guilty one had been forgiven–the great Sacrifice has secured
this.

Then He enters there to appear for us. Read the twenty-fourth
verse–"For Christ has not entered the Holy Places made with hands,
which are copies of the true, but into Heaven itself, now to appear in
the Presence of God for us." He has gone there to put in an appearance
on our behalf. As in a court of law, when a man appears by his
attorney, or legal representative, he is in the court, even though he
may be miles away–so are we, today, in possession of our eternal
inheritance through Him who has put in an appearance for us. God sees
His saints in Heaven in the Person of their glorious Representative. In
Him we are raised up together and made to sit together in the heavenly
places. Is not this a subject for quiet enjoyment? The Forerunner has
for us entered upon the purchased possession.

He is there, next, to perfect us. Look at the tenth chapter and
fourteenth verse–"For by one offering He has perfected forever those
who are being sanctified." His one sacrifice has made the comers
thereunto perfect. And to show their perfectness, they enter into the
Holy Place. His work is done or else He would not be within the
veil–His being there is proof that everything is complete and that His
people are complete in Him. The set-apart ones are accepted, for He in
whom they stand, is accepted. As when Adam was driven out of the garden
we were all driven out of the garden–so now that the second Adam is in
the Paradise of God, we are there, too, in Him.

He has entered in once, also, that He may abide there. Look at the
twelfth and thirteenth verses of the tenth chapter–"But this Man,
after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the
right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His
footstool." Jesus is with God in Heaven and always must be there till
the purposes of Divine Grace are accomplished. He holds a permanent
session at the right hand of the Father in everlasting triumph. Till
our Representative is expelled from Heaven, we cannot lose it. And that
can never be! Look up, O Believer, and see where you are and where you
always must be–accepted in the Beloved, made near by the blood of
Christ!

Once more–He is there to admit us to the same nearness. Read the
twenty-first and twenty-second verses of the tenth chapter–"Having a
High Priest over the House of God, let us draw near with a true heart."
Behold, the Lord Jesus meets us when we pray and praise and He presents
our worship. When we fall asleep and wake up in another state, He will
come and meet us–at Heaven's wide entrance–and through the rent veil
admit us into Heaven. What must it be to be with Him on His Throne! To
behold His Glory and that forever! It will not be long before we reach
that felicity. Some of us are within hearing of the eternal song.
Therefore, let us cheer up–and if the way is rough, let us remember
that it cannot be long. Since He has entered, by whom we are everywhere
represented, this guarantees our entrance into the Glory of God.
Therefore has He gone before that He may welcome us Home.

Turn these thoughts over and surely you have heavenly manna to feed
upon–food for faith and material for songs. You are gone in before us,
Lord. And because we love You, we rejoice.

IV. But now, lastly, let us review THE GLORIES OF THIS ENTRANCE. We
have seen the sacrifice of our Lord's entrance, the manner of His
entrance and the objects of His entrance. And now let us muse upon the
glory of His entrance, which is this–"having obtained eternal
redemption." The words, "for us," are supplied by the translators and
therefore we leave them out. Our Lord entered the Most Holy Place
"having obtained eternal redemption."

When Aaron went in with the blood of bulls and goats, he had not
obtained "eternal redemption." He had only obtained a symbolic and
temporary purification for the people and that was all. Our Lord enters
in because, first, His work is all done. We do not read, "He entered in
that He might obtain it," but "having obtained." Some read, "having
found eternal redemption." He found it in Himself, for He could have
found it nowhere else. Neither in Heaven, nor earth, nor Hell could
there be found a redemption for the souls of men. But our Lord found
the ransom in His own great sacrifice and He entered into Glory with
this amazing "Eureka" on His tongue–"Deliver him from going down into
the pit, for I have found a ransom."

glorious Finder, You could well find it, for it was hidden in Yourself!
You have obtained eternal redemption. That which He had obtained was
redemption. There is no getting "redemption" out of the Bible. I bless
God for this. Many cannot endure the word, but it is there. And it is
redemption by price, too–"a mercantile transaction," as they profanely
speak. "You are bought with a price." Redemption is deliverance through
payment–in this case, ransom through One standing in another's place
and discharging that other's obligations.

Brethren, when the Lord Jesus Christ died, He paid our redemption
price. And when He entered within the veil, He entered as One who not
only desired to give us redemption but as One who had "obtained eternal
redemption." He has won for us redemption both by price and by power.
We do not fully know what the word "redemption" means, for we were born
free. But if we could go back a few years and mix with the Negro slaves
of America, they could have told us what redemption meant, if ever, by
any good fortune one of them was able to buy his freedom. You that have
groaned under the tyranny of sin, you know what redemption means in its
spiritual sense, and you prize the ransom by which you have been made
free.

Brothers and Sisters, we are today redeemed from our far off condition
in reference to the Lord God–we do not now stand outside the veil.
This is a great redemption. We are also delivered from guilt, for "He
has washed us from our sins in His own blood." This is a great
redemption. We are rescued from the power of sin that we should not
live any longer a slave to it. We overcome sin through the blood of the
Lamb. This also is a great redemption. We are now saved from the curse
of sin. For He was "made a curse for us, as it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangs on a tree." This is, indeed, a great redemption. We
are redeemed from all the bondage that ensued from sin. We are no
longer the serfs of Satan, nor the slaves of the world–neither are we
subject to bondage through fear of death. That last enemy shall be
destroyed and we know it. The Son has set us free and we are free,
indeed. He entered into the heavenly places with this for His
everlasting renown, that He has obtained redemption for His people.

And now think of the nature of that redemption. For here is a grand
point. He has obtained "eternal" redemption. If you carefully study the
verses around the text, you will find the word "eternal" three
times–there is "eternal redemption," the "eternal Spirit" and an
"eternal inheritance." Why is redemption said to be eternal? It is a
long word, that word "eternal"–notwithstanding all the squeezing and
cutting that men give to it nowadays–they cannot make it into a
limited period, do what they may. He has obtained eternal redemption–a
redemption which entered into eternal consideration.

1 speak of the Lord God with great reverence, when I say that
redemption was from eternity in His thoughts. What if this world was
first created myriads of ages ago, as it probably was. Yet in the
succeeding epochs neither plant nor animal was created without respect
to the Divine ultimatum which is redemption! Not a fossil lies in the
rock which has not been molded with a relation to the Lord Christ and
His eternal redemption. Christ is the image of God and all things bear
traces of that image. From every act of Deity a finger points to Jesus,
the atoning sacrifice.

Redemption is the drift of creation and the hinge of Providence. The
undertone of all the voices God has created is God in Christ Jesus. In
Him the transcendent splendor of the Godhead was best beheld. Veiled in
manhood He bore human guilt that He might abolish it and bring to God a
blood-washed Church. Things created serve as a platform for

things redeemed–the temporal creation gives way before eternal
redemption. In the Everlasting Covenant the Lord had always an eye to
its seal, which is the blood of its Surety. In the Divine decrees
everything is shaped and fashioned according to the work of that
wondrous Person in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

The eternal councils of God have ever had an eye to the everlasting
righteousness and to the everlasting redemption of the everlasting Son
of the Father. Redemption is no new thought with God–no expedient to
snatch the world from an unexpected accident–no patching up of a
broken-down purpose. Redemption is the center of the Divine plan. The
focus of the manifestation of God, the summit of the mountain of
Revelation. Herein is love! Herein is God!

When our Lord entered in, He had by His sacrifice also dealt with
eternal things and not with matters of merely passing importance. He
offered Himself by the Eternal Spirit and by that offering He took off
the mortgage from the eternal inheritance and bade us freely enter upon
the predestinated possession. Sin, death, Hell–these are not temporary
things–the atonement deals with these and therefore it is an eternal
redemption. Let me cheer the heart of anyone here who is burdened with
sin, with this reflection, that the redemption of Christ deals with the
whole of past sin. How far back can we trace evil? We may follow it
back to the first apostate angel.

But as far as we are concerned, we trace it to father Adam, and thus
our sin runs back in muddy streams to that primeval fault which has
brought a taint into our nature. Eternal redemption has removed from us
whatever of consequences might come on us because of our portion in the
Fall. The stain of heredity is washed out by our being created anew in
Christ Jesus. From every soul that has, by faith, part and parcel in
this redemption, all the olden curse of the race is gone. You have no
cause to fear the ancient past. Nothing lies buried there which can
ever rise to accuse you. Who shall lay anything to the charge of him
for whom Christ has obtained eternal redemption?

Now, look forward into eternity. Behold the vista which has no end!
Eternal redemption covers all the peril of this mortal life and every
danger beyond, if there are such. You know not how much you are to be
tempted and tried before the end comes. Perhaps you will live to
extreme old age and you dread the decay of intellect and the increase
of infirmity. And well you may. Nevertheless, be glad that He has
obtained eternal redemption for you. You cannot possibly outlive the
redemption of Christ, neither can any temptation for which He has not
provided by any possibility assail you.

Leap to the end. Think of the future of prophecy. Anticipate the blast
of the seven trumpets, the pouring out of the dread vials! You need not
fear any of these, seeing your Lord has obtained eternal redemption. We
are being informed that great events will happen on such a day and
hour. I believe these predictions as much as I believe in the
prophecies of the Norwood Gypsy and no more. But if they were all true,
what occasion is there for fear to a Believer? Our Lord has obtained
eternal redemption for His people and we shall rest contented even
though the star Wormwood should fall and the waters should be turned
into blood and all these things should be dissolved.

When prophecy is all fulfilled and we pass into the dread future, we
fear not death since our Lord has obtained eternal redemption. "Eternal
punishment" is a word of unspeakable terror. But it is met and fully
covered by "eternal redemption." Be not afraid, O you that put your
trust in the Lord Jesus as your Sacrifice and Priest! There is nothing
in the mystery of eternity that need frighten you. Fearlessly you may
launch into the deep and quit the shores of this present being since
you bear with you eternal redemption. How shall you be lost for whom an
eternal ransom has been paid?

Oh, leap for joy, you Believers in Jesus! For He has obtained eternal
redemption for you! He would not go within the veil unto His Father
till He had fully wrought out your redemption. He stayed here till He
could cry exultingly, "It is finished." And then, but not till then, He
gave up the ghost and entered into His Father's Presence. Rejoice that
you have no trifle here, but an eternal redemption. This is no thing of
today, or tomorrow but of the eternal past and future.

I have done, but let me ask my beloved Hearers, one by one, Have you
this eternal redemption? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus? He that
believes in Him has everlasting life and that is the outcome of eternal
redemption. Do you believe in the Son of God? Faith in Him is the
greatest of all works, even as our Lord said, "This is the work of God,
that you believe on Him whom He has sent." All other works are like the
chaff on the threshing floor, if we refuse to believe in God's grandest
deed of love and wisdom.

God's noblest deed rejected, we reject God Himself. He has manifested
Himself in the sacrifice of Christ as nowhere else. And if we turn our
backs upon the Cross, if we refuse to believe in the Incarnate God
dying for human sin–we show a rebellion of heart against God which
must destroy us. No sin can equal the sin of refusing God's way of
mercy. If you come confessing sin and if you accept the great Sin
Offering as presented for you, you shall be brought near to God. If
you, too, by faith can dip your finger in this blood and sprinkle it
upon the Mercy Seat, even as Christ, your High Priest, has sprinkled
it, then you, too, shall stand within the veil with Jesus.

Into the holiest of all you may enter! No, you have entered there
already in Jesus and you are there permanently, because He abides there
forever. Your Substitute, your Covenant Head, your Representative, is
in Glory and there you shall be before long. Therefore, if you believe
in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, with all your heart, comfort yourself
with these words. Since the veil is rent, hide not yourself from God
who unveils Himself to you. By-and-by you shall be with Him where He
is. Rejoice that even now He is with you where you are.

The Lord bless this congregation and may we all meet within the veil
around the great Forerunner, whom we love and adore! Amen.