Blood Even on the Golden Altar

Blood Even on the Golden Altar

(No. 2369)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, JULY 15, 1894.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, MAY
6, 1888.

"And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar
of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the Tabernacle of the
Congregation." Leviticus 4:7.

ALL through Holy Scripture you constantly meet with the mention of
"blood." "Without shedding of blood is no remission." "The blood of
Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin." "You were not
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the
precious blood of Christ." The word, "blood," is recorded over and over
again, and if any complain of the preacher that he frequently uses this
expression, he makes no kind of apology for it–he would be ashamed of
himself if he did not often speak of the blood! The Word of God is as
full of references to blood as the body of a man is full of life and
blood.

But what does, "the blood," mean in Scripture? It means not merely
suffering, which might very well be typified by blood, but it means
suffering unto death. It means the taking of a life. To put it very
briefly, a sin against God deserves death as its punishment, and what
God said by the mouth of the Prophet Ezekiel still stands true, "The
soul that sins, it shall die." The only way by which God could fulfill
His threatening sentence and yet forgive guilty men was that Jesus
Christ, His Son, came into the world and offered His life instead of
ours. His life, because of the dignity of His Person, and the majesty
of His Nature, was so vast in its value that He could give it not only
for one man, but for the whole multitude of men who should believe in
Him! Now, that by which men are saved is the suffering of Jesus Christ
even unto death, as Peter writes, "Christ, also, has once suffered for
sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." Paul
puts it, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made
a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a
tree." And again, "He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin;
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

All the sacrifices under the Law of God, when their blood was poured
out, were typical of the life of Christ given for men as a Sacrifice in
the place of those who had offended unto death against the Law of God
and, therefore, were doomed to die. You who hear me constantly know
very well what I mean. Have I ever given any uncertain sound about this
great central Truth of God? There is no way of salvation under Heaven
but by faith in the Substitutionary Sacrifice of Jesus Christ! And the
way by which we are redeemed from eternal wrath is by Christ having
stood as Substitute for us and having died in our place, as it is
written, "The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His
stripes we are healed."

It is worthy of note that in the death of Christ, the shedding of blood
was made very conspicuous, as if to refresh our memories about the
teaching of the types of the Mosaic Law. Jesus was scourged unto
bleeding. His temples were pierced and lacerated with a crown of
thorns. His hands and feet were nailed with iron to the Cross. His side
was opened by the soldier's spear and forthwith there flowed blood and
water. There are many ways by which men may die without the shedding of
blood–the capital punishment of our own country is free from this
accompaniment–but our Savior was ordained to die by a death in which
the shedding of blood was conspicuous, as if to link Him forever with
those sacrifices which were made as types and symbols of His great
atoning work! My dear Brother, Mr. Pearce, in his prayer, seemed to set
forth Christ evidently crucified among you. I wish that even though you
have to use your imaginations a little, you would think that you see
Jesus on the Cross. Picture Him here, tonight, and lovingly watch Him.
You will need few words from me if you do but catch sight of Him.
Behold your Savior pouring out His life's blood that He might bear your
guilt away, dying for you that you might live forever!

In the verse before our text we read that the priest was to take of the
blood of the bullock of the sin offering and sprinkle it seven times
"before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary." The veil concealed
the inner dwelling place of God and this veil was to be sprinkled seven
times, that is, perfectly. There was to be a perfect presentation of
the precious blood before the place where God was concealed. After that
was done, the priest was to take some of the blood of the bullock and
smear with it the four horns of the golden altar which stood just in
front of the veil, and near the golden candlesticks. This altar was
intended for the burning of sweet incense upon it and the priest was to
smear with blood the four horns of it. What was meant by that act? Let
me read the text again and then at once seek to explain it. "The priest
shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet
incense before the Lord."

I. My first observation is this–THE ATONEMENT WAS PRESENTED WITH A
VIEW TO THE LORD.

Have you not often heard it said that all the Atonement accomplished
was something in relation to us? We think upon the death of Christ and
it stirs our affections, but some teachers say that is the only
result–it brings us to God, but it does not bring God to us! That is
what they say, but when we turn to Holy Scripture we find that the
blood shedding was with reference to God, Himself, as well as with
reference to us, because in the text it is distinctly said, "The priest
shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet
incense before the Lord."

Its place was where the Lord would especially see it. I would like the
young people, when they get home, to take a pencil and mark in the
first chapters of the Book of Leviticus how often the expression is
used, "before the Lord." The bringing of the bullock, the killing of
the sacrifice, the sprinkling of the blood–all was to be done, "before
the Lord." Whether any man saw it or not, was of small account, for it
was, "before the Lord." True, it was done in the presence of the
congregation, but it is specified over and over, again, that it was,
"before the Lord." I would remind you that in the memorable type of the
paschal lamb, the Lord gave special instructions as to where the blood
was to be sprinkled. Was it to be within the house? Remember that all
the people were inside the house–on the Passover night there was not a
man outside! Where, then, was the blood put? Upon the interior walls of
the house where they could see it? Might it not tend to comfort them if
they could look upon it? That was not the Lord's plan–the blood was
not put where the people could see it–it was sprinkled outside the
house! And the Inspired account tells us that the Lord, Himself, said
to Moses and Aaron, "And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on
the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses…and when
I see the blood, I will pass over you." It was put where God could see
it, and, as if to show that that was the main point, it was put where
the people could not see it–that it might be distinctly said to them,
"It is, after all, God's sight of the great sacrifice which saves you."

Next, the place of the blood is where the Lord sees it in reference to
us. Understand where the Lord sees it with reference to us. They charge
us with teaching that the Atonement in some way changes the Nature of
God. We have never said so and we never dreamed anything of the kind!
Above all things, we have always taught that God is Immutable and
cannot be changed either in His Nature or in His purpose. They tell us
that we teach and, they tell others that we teach, that the Sacrifice
of Christ was offered to make God love His people. We have, over and
over and over again, denied this, and declared that–

"'Twas not to make Jehovah's love

Towards the sinner flame,

That Jesus, from His Throne above,

A suffering Man became!

'Twas not the death which He endured,

Nor all the pangs He bore,

That God's eternal love procured,

For God was love before."

Christ in His Sacrifice is the result of God's love, not the cause of
it! Yet, dear Friends, we do confess, without any hesitation, to this
fact, that the death of Christ has a reference to God's dealing with us
in this way–the claims of Divine Justice must be met. The Judge of all
the earth must do right and He cannot suffer sin to go unpunished! Our
own conscience confirms that Truth of God–there is no sinner, even
when he is most hardened, who deep down in his soul does not know that
to be true! And when he lies dying, it causes him great trouble to
think that he is going where God must visit his sin upon him!

Now, what Christ has done is this–the Father has given us, in Christ,
that which satisfies the claims of Infinite Justice. God can be just
and yet the Justifier of him that believes. Executing the death penalty
upon our Surety, He declares that whoever believes on Him shall not
perish, but have everlasting life! Oh, dear Friends, it is God's
looking on and seeing in His Son the vindication of His law, the
honoring of His holiness–it is this which is the very essence of
Christ's Sacrifice as to its result upon us!

I believe that the great Lord, the just Judge of all, looks on Jesus
Christ with extreme delight as having suffered for His people. He sees
in the sufferings of Christ the honoring of His own holiness. Jesus
loved holiness so much that He would sooner die than that holiness
should be impugned. He was so true, so upright, so just, that He would
rather suffer to the death on the tree than that God should, in the
least degree, violate His Word, or infringe His Justice. The Father
looks on Christ's great Sacrifice and He takes great delight in it
because He sees in it His own holiness honored and glorified!

And what a delight He must take in the love of Christ when He sees that
Jesus loved us with a love which many waters could not quench, and
which death, itself, could not drown! The great Father looks to the
death of Christ and sees Christ's love triumphant on the tree, and He
is charmed with it. I do not think that you and I can ever tell what
pleasure the Father has in the finished work and Sacrifice of His dear
Son. We read that He "smelled a savor of rest" in what was only a
typical sacrifice–but what a savor of rest must the great heart of the
Infinite Jehovah find in the Infinite Sacrifice of His Well-Beloved!
You look upon it with bleared and bedimmed eyes, yet you see enough to
make you wonder and adore. But what does God see in the Atonement of
Jesus? Ah, Beloved, we cannot fully answer you, but we know that He
sees there that which He eternally looks upon with infinite complacency
and, for the sake of it, He looks upon us, poor guilty ones as we are,
with complacency, too! He loves us because of what Christ has done in
reference to us!

That is my first remark and though I have but feebly set it forth, yet,
Beloved, it is a great and glorious Truth of God! The Atonement has a
bearing towards the Lord, Himself, and, therefore, in this ancient
type, the blood was smeared upon the altar of sweet incense before the
Lord.

II. But now, secondly, coming to the very heart of the text–THE
ATONEMENT GIVES POWER TO THE ITER-CESSION OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

That altar of sweet incense was the type of Christ pleading for men,
making intercession for the transgressors. The horns of the altar
signify the power of His intercession and the power of Christ's
intercession lies in His Sacrifice–lies in the blood. If I might be
allowed to picture such a scene, I seem to see the Divine Son pleading
with His Father and He pleads the merit of His own blood.

The Father sees it, first, as a reason why the Son should plead with
Him, for the blood shows His nearness of kin to man. Has Jesus blood?
"Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He,
also, Himself, likewise took part of the same." Here is the token to
His Father that He is truly Man! Here is the sure testimony of His
identification with His people for whom He makes intercession! The mark
is made by His own blood upon the horns of the altar and its presence
there proves that He is qualified to plead for men, seeing that, while
He is God, His blood shows that He is evidently also Man!

I hear Him begin to plead and if Justice would stay Him and say, "How
can You plead for the guilty? Before this Great White Throne, unsullied
by a stain, how can You ask that God should bless the impure and foul?"
Jesus points to His own blood as the token of His removal of impeding
sin. "The Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world," has taken
it away by the shedding of His own blood! "The blood of Jesus Christ,
His Son, cleanses us from all sin." "Hear Me, My Father," He cries,
"hear My plea on behalf of the penitent sinner! I have put away his
sin. Answer My prayer and bless him, for I have taken away the sin that
cursed him. I have borne its penalty and made expiation for it by My
death."

Do you not think, also, that this blood, which is the very power of
Christ's intercession, signifies His fulfillment of Covenant
engagements? We read of "the blood of the Everlasting Covenant." Jesus
had engaged with His Father "to finish the transgression and to make an
end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in
everlasting righteousness," and He has done so! By His death, He could
say, of His work as the Messiah, "It is finished!" By that death He had
fulfilled His Suretyship engagement to His Father in connection with
the Covenant of Grace and this, Beloved, is the very sinew of His
strength in interceding for His people–this is the very essence of His
pleading! He has done all that He

agreed to do, therefore He asks the Father to fulfill His part of the
Everlasting Covenant and to save the people redeemed by the blood shed
on Calvary.

And, it seems to me, that Christ also uses His blood as the great power
of His pleading in His claim of reward. "Have I not died for My people?
Then will You not let them live, O My Father? Behold, O Justice, with
uplifted sword, if you seek Me, let these go their way." Jesus seems to
say, "My Lord, My God, I have become Your Servant. I took upon Myself
the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. And
I have performed all the service You did lay upon Me. Reward Me, then,
for all My toil. Let Me see of the travail of My Soul. Let Me be
satisfied according to the promise which You did make to Me when I
undertook this work."

Do you not see, then, my Brothers and Sisters, that the blood on the
horns of the altar means this–that Christ's blood is the very strength
of His pleading with God? Because He died for guilty men, therefore,
today, when He asks for the sinner's salvation, He will have it granted
to Him, for the blood prevails with God, speaking better things than
that

of Abel!

III. And now, in the last place, I want to say to you that THIS BLOOD
GIVES ACCEPTANCE TO OUR WORSHIP.

We bring to God sweet incense through Jesus Christ our Savior. Our
prayers, our praises, our services are like the mixture of sweet
perfumes which were burnt of old upon the altar before God. But it is
the blood-mark on the altar that makes the incense acceptable. It is
the atoning Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ that gives prayer,
praise and service acceptance in the sight of God.

In beginning to speak upon this point, I want you to notice that the
blood is on the altar before we begin to pray. It was the blood that
gave acceptance to the incense burnt upon the altar–it was not the
stacte, onycha and galbanum–those, "sweet spices with pure
frankincense," that, by themselves, ascended with fragrance unto the
Lord. There must be the blood of the sacrifice sprinkled on the horns
of the altar! What does this mean? Why, Beloved, that God accepts us in
Christ because of Christ, Himself, and Christ, alone! It is true that
we are to bring forth good works, for faith without works is dead.
Still, the reason of our acceptance with God is not our good works, but
Christ and His atoning Sacrifice, alone! As we come to Him, we sing–

"Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Your Cross I cling."

Before you have performed a single work of holiness, before you have
felt any of those sweet emotions which come out of the possession of
Divine Love shed abroad in your heart, if you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, you are accepted with God–Christ has saved you! Therefore is
it that a man is justified by faith without works, for it is the faith
that justifies him as it lays hold on Christ. There shall be an
abundance of sweet spices on the altar, by-and-by, but apart from them,
and before there has been a living coal smoking there, the altar has
been consecrated unto God by the sprinkling of the blood of the
Sacrifice! I like to think of that glorious fact! Let your good works
be multiplied, but keep all of them at a distance from the Sacrifice of
Christ! Never dream of adding them to Christ's Sacrifice to make it
complete, for it is perfect without anything of yours. When you repent
of sin, if you begin to trust in your repentance, away with your
repentance! When you serve God, if you begin to trust in your service,
away with it! Away with it! It becomes an antichrist if it takes the
place that should be occupied by Jesus, only, for His precious blood,
alone, can put away sin!

But now I want you to note, dear Friends, that whenever you come to God
with your worship, you must take care that you notice the blood on the
altar, because it removes the sin of our worship. The best worship that
we ever render to God is far from perfect. Our praises, ah, how faint
and feeble they are! Our prayers, how wandering, how wavering they are!
When we get nearest to God, how far off we are! When we are most like
He, how greatly unlike He we are! This I know, that my tears need be
wept over, and my faith is so mingled with unbelief that I have to
repent of that sad admixture! Brothers and Sisters, keep your eyes
fixed on the blood of Jesus! There is no prayer, no praise that can
come before God, of itself, for it is so imperfect. Therefore, keep
your eyes on the blood of Jesus, that even the sin of your holy things
may be put away by the Sacrifice once offered on Calvary.

Do you not think, also, that we would pray a great deal better if we
thought more of the blood on the altar as our plea in prayer? I
remember a Primitive Methodist Prayer Meeting at which a Brother could
not get on with his supplication. He was very earnest and fervent, but
he could not make any progress. He did not seem as if he had power to
pray.

He shouted, as Methodists do, but there is not much in that–yet he
could not get on with real praying till a friend at the back end of the
room cried out, "Plead the blood, Brother! Plead the blood!" He did so
and then he began to pray with mighty power! Here lies the force of all
your pleas in prayer–if you can plead for Jesus' sake and in His name,
by His agony and bloody sweat, by His Cross and passion–then you have
discovered the great secret of prevailing with God! Your hand is on the
lever and you can move the world if you will!

Should we not, also, make the precious blood of Jesus the highest note
of our praises? When we are praising God, we think a great deal of the
music. I do not blame anybody for doing that, especially if he is the
leader of the Psalmody, but, Brothers and Sisters, we may come to think
more of the melody and the harmony than we do of the heart and soul of
praise! Keep your eyes on the crucified Christ and then sing as loudly
as you like. Fix your gaze on those five precious wounds–they shall
help you to praise Christ better than all the notes of the scales, for
what higher note can we ever reach than this, "Unto Him that loved us,
and washed us from our sins in His own blood"? Now you have sounded out
the very highest note in the scale! Oh, the precious blood, the atoning
Sacrifice, the great Substitution of our Lord Jesus Christ! The
Hallelujah Chorus of all the redeemed shall have no nobler note than
this, "He loved us and saved us. He loved us and died for us and we are
washed in His blood."

Let me here say that every sort of worship, not only prayer and praise,
but every kind of worship that we can render to the Lord, will be
acceptable with God in proportion as we exhibit, with it, the blood
upon the altar. I find it a very sweet way of worshipping God to sit
down and meditate. I hope you feel the same. You do not need any words
at such seasons. You have been reading a chapter of the Bible and God
has spoken to you and you, perhaps, have knelt in prayer and have
spoken with Him. Now you sit down and meditate. I like to sit quite
still and look up, or sit quite still with closed eyes, and just think.
Now, the thinking, the meditating, the contemplation which will be best
for you and most acceptable with God is that which keeps close to the
Cross and near the precious sacrifice. Do you notice what holy men and
women say when they come to die? You stand at their bedside and talk to
them. If they are in any trouble and distress of conscience, what do
they begin to talk about? Why, about the precious Sacrifice of Christ
upon the Cross! It does not matter to what sect they belong, or to what
denomination they have been joined in life–they always come back to
this point at the last. There is no passing out of this life with
comfort–there is no hope of entering into Heaven with delight–except
as we are resting upon the precious blood of Christ!

Ah, dear Friends, there may be some here who do not think much of this
theme. There always were such. It is nothing to you that Jesus should
die. But if there is anything that sanctifies, any Truth of God that
digs deep into the heart and puts the Seeds of Life into the very
center of our being–if there is anything that makes the Christian
devout, humble, holy–it is the Doctrine of the Cross! I can almost
gauge your piety to a certainty by what you think of the bleeding
Savior. If He is nothing to you, you are not in the blessed secret. But
if Jesus Christ is first and last with you. If you preach Christ
crucified–if you love Christ crucified–in that proportion God dwells
in you and you dwell in Him! This is not theory that I am talking–this
is no Truth of God that lies upon the borders of the Christian religion
and may, or may not be accepted! This is the very heart of the Gospel
and if you take this away, you have killed it!

You are no Christian if you disbelieve this Truth of God! If you are
not saved by the precious blood of Christ, you are damned! There is but
one gate of life and that is sprinkled with the blood of Christ. If you
turn away from that door, you have chosen the broad road that leads to
destruction. O you who feel your guilt, come to my Lord for pardon! O
you who confess your sin, come to His blood for cleansing! It is still
true that–

"There is life for a look at the Crucified One! There is life at this
moment for you."

How many years have I come to this pulpit, telling this old, old story,
telling it very poorly and very imperfectly, and yet you are not tired
of hearing it! Look how the crowds still throng this house! I might
have given you some pretty novelties every now and then, but had I done
so, I believe I would have lost you! But this old Truth of God, even if
you do not accept it, commands your attention. You cannot help coming
to hear it–oh, that you would also believe it! It has made me
supremely happy. I was about to say that it has given me an angel's
happiness and, sometimes, I could even say without exaggeration it
gives me solid peace with which I can live, and with which, by-and-by,
I hope to die!

It enables me to stand alone against unnumbered foes and feel as happy
as if everybody were with me, for, in this great Truth that Jesus died
for me, that Jesus bore my sins in His own body on the tree, there is a
rock beneath my feet!

He who is on that rock may stand there and defy even death and Hell!
Oh, that you would come and trust my Lord, you restless ones, you who
do not know what peace means! Trust Him! Believe that He died for you!
Trust Him and you shall have peace like a river–and righteousness like
the waves of the sea!

May we now come to the Communion Table thinking much of the precious
blood once shed for many for the remission of sins!

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: Leviticus 16:1-31; Hebrews 9:1-22.

Verse 1, 2. And the LORD spoke unto Moses after the death of the two
sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died, and the
LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron, your brother, that he come not
at all times into the Holy Place within the veil before the Mercy Seat,
which is upon the Ark, that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud
upon the Mercy Seat. The way into the heavenly places was not yet made
manifest. The inner shrine called the Holy of Holies, was specially
guarded from human access. No one could have said, in those days, "Let
us come boldly unto the Throne of Grace," for only the High Priest
could approach the Mercy Seat at all–and he must go within the veil
strictly in accordance with the instructions given to Moses by the
Lord. Nadab and Abihu appear to have entered into the Presence of God
wrongfully. They had probably been drinking, for there was a command,
afterwards, given that no priest should drink wine or strong drink when
he went into the House of the Lord. God, in His righteous anger, slew
these young men at once and now, lest any others should intrude into
the secret place of communion, a Law was given to tell when and how man
might approach his God.

3. Thus shall Aaron come into the Holy Place: with a young bullock for
a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. There is no access to
God except by sacrifice–there never was, and there never can be any
way to God for sinful man except by sacrifice!

4. He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen
breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen belt, and
with the linen miter shall he be attired: these are holy garments;
therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on. Our
great High Priest offered Himself without spot to God and He is,
Himself, without sin. But the Jewish High Priest must make himself
typically pure by putting on the snow-white garments of holy service
and, before doing so, he must wash himself with water, that he might
come before God acceptably. None might approach the Holy God with
impurities upon them.

5. 6. And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel
two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt
offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which
is for himself, and make an Atonement for himself, and for his house.
These priests were sinful and, therefore, they must first, themselves,
be purged from guilt before they could come near to God; but the true
High Priest of God, our Lord Jesus, needed to offer no sacrifice for
Himself, for He was pure and without blemish or stain or sin.

7. And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at
the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. These two goats were
not for himself, but for the people. You must regard them as if they
were but one offering, for it needed both of them to set forth the
Divine Plan by which sin is put away–one was to die and the other was,
typically, to bear away the sin of the people.

8. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD,
and the other lot for the scapegoat. One goat was to show how sin is
put away in reference to God by sacrifice, and the other goat was to
show how it is put away in reference to us, God's people, by being
carried into oblivion.

9-14. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD'S lot fell and
offer him for a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be
the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an
Atonement with Him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the
wilderness. And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering,
which is for himself, and shall make an Atonement for himself, and for
his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for
himself: and he shall take a censer full of burning coals offire from
off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense
beaten small, and bring it within the veil: and he shall put the
incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense
may cover the Mercy Seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:
and he shall take of the blood of the bullock,

and sprinkle it with his finger upon the Mercy Seat eastward; and
before the Mercy Seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger
seven times. This was his first entrance within the veil, with holy
incense to denote the acceptance which Christ has with God, though He
is always well-beloved, dear and precious to His Father. This incense
sent up a cloud that veiled the Glory of the Shekinah which shone
between the two wings of the cherubim and so the High Priest was better
able to bear the wondrous brilliance by which God revealed His
Presence. When Aaron had thus filled the place with the
sweetly-perfumed smoke, he took the blood of the bullock of the sin
offering and carefully sprinkled it seven times on the Mercy Seat, and
on the ground around the Mercy Seat. What a mercy it is for you and me
that the spot where we meet with God is a place where the blood of the
Great Sacrifice has been sprinkled, yes, and that the ground of our
meeting with God, the place on which the Mercy Seat rests, also has the
blood mark upon it!

15. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the
people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as
he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the Mercy
Seat, and before the Mercy Seat. Twice, you see, is the Holy Place thus
sprinkled, first with the blood of the bullock and then with that of
the goat.

16. And he shall make an Atonement for the Holy Place because of the
uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their
transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the Tabernacle
of the Congregation that remains among them in the midst of their
uncleanness. If God is to dwell in the midst of sinful men, it can only
be through the blood of the Atonement. Twice, seven times, were the
Holy Place and the tabernacle to be sprinkled with blood, as though to
indicate a double perfectness of efficacy of the preparation for God's
dwelling among sinful men.

17-19 And there shall be no man in the Tabernacle of the Congregation
when he goes in to make an Atonement in the Holy Place, until he come
out, and has made an Atonement for himself, and for his household, and
for all the congregation of Israel. And he shall go out unto the altar
that is before the LORD, and make an Atonement for it; and shall take
of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it
upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the
blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow
it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. Even this altar to
which we bring our prayers and our thank offerings has sin upon it.
There is some defilement, even, in the saltwater of our penitent tears!
There is some unbelief, even, in our most acceptable faith! There is
some lack of holiness about our holiest things! We are unclean by
nature and by practice, too–what could we do without the sprinkling of
the blood? See how the Lord insisted upon it in the case of His ancient
people, yet there are some in these modern times who deride it. God
forgive their blasphemy!

20, 21. And when he has made an end of reconciling the Holy Place, and
the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the
live goat: and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live
goat and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel,
and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the
head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into
the wilderness. Notice the, "all," in this 21st verse–"Aaron shall lay
both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all
the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions
in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall
send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness." This was
the second part of the Atonement showing not sacrifice, but the effect
of sacrifice, and explaining what becomes of sin after the sacrifice
has been accepted and the blood has been presented within the veil.

22-25. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a
land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. And
Aaron shall come into the Tabernacle of the Congregation and shall put
off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy
Place, and shall leave them there: and he shall wash his flesh with
water in the Holy Place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and
offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and
make an Atonement for himself, and for the people. And the fat of the
sin offering shall he burn upon the altar. Only the fat of it, the best
of it, was burnt upon the altar, for sin offerings were not acceptable
to God. They were regarded as being filled with impurity by reason of
the sin which they brought to mind. For this reason the bullock and the
goat of the sin offering had to be burnt outside the camp–"Therefore
Jesus, also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood,
suffered outside the gate," as our Sin Offering. Yet, inasmuch as the
fat was accepted upon the altar, so is Christ, even as our Sin
Offering, acceptable before God.

26, 27. And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his
clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the
camp. And the bullock for the sin offering and the goat for the sin
offering, whose blood was brought in to make Atonement in the Holy
Place, shall one carry forth outside the camp; and they shall burn in
the fire their skins, and their

flesh, and their dung. All must be burnt–and the last is mentioned
because it more strikingly sets forth the impurity of the sin connected
with the sin offering! All must be burnt right up. There must not be a
particle of the sin offering left unconsumed.

28. And he that burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh
in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. Everything that
has to do with God's service must be clean and purified by fire, and
purified by water. An Atonement cannot be made by that which is,
itself, defiled–it must be without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing
before it can put sin away. This is the virtue of Christ's Atonement,
for He was altogether without sin of any kind.

29-31. And this shall be a statute forever unto you: that in the
seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your
souls, and do no work at all, whether it is one of your own country, or
a stranger that sojourns among you: for on that day shall the priest
make an Atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from
all your sins before the LORD. It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you,
and you shall afflict your souls, by a statute forever. This shows what
sacred-ness the Lord attached to the great Day of Atonement and gives
us more than a hint of the preciousness of our Lord's atoning work for
us. Now let us turn to the Epistle to the Hebrews and see how the
Apostle spiritualizes the services of the Mosaic dispensation.

Hebrews 9:1 Then verily the first Covenant had also ordinances of
Divine service and a worldly sanctuary. An external sanctuary, a
material structure and, therefore, belonging to this world.

2. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the
candlestick, and the table, and the showbread: which is called the
sanctuary. Or, "the Holy Place."

3-8. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the
Holiest of All; which had the golden censer, and the Ark of the
Covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot
that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the Tables of the
Covenant; and over it the Cherubims of glory shadowing the Mercy Seat;
of which we cannot now speak particularly. Now when these things were
thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle,
accomplishing the service of God. But into the Second went the High
Priest, alone, once every year, not without blood, which he offered for
himself, and for the errors of the people: the Holy Spirit thus
signifying that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made
manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing. Notice
especially those words, "Not without blood." There could be no approach
to God under the old dispensation without the shedding of blood and
there is no access to the Lord, now, without the precious blood of
Christ.

9-22. Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were
offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the
service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in
meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed
on them until the time of reformation. But Christ being come an High
Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He
entered in once into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an
heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the
flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal
Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause He is the
Mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the
redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament,
they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of
the testators. For a testament is offorce after men are dead: otherwise
it is of no strength at all while the testator lives. Whereupon neither
the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had
spoken every precept to all the people according to the Law, he took
the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and
hyssop, and sprinkled both the Book, and all the people, saying, This
is the blood of the testament which God has enjoined unto you. Moreover
he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the
ministry. And almost all things are by the Law purged with blood; and
without shedding of blood is no remission. That is the great Gospel
Truth that was set forth by all the sacrifices under the Law of
God–"without shedding of blood is no remission."