Amen. People of God, let us turn our scripture reading for this morning, Hebrews chapter 9. After the epistles, the letters of the apostle, you have Hebrews, James, then only a handful more to the end. Following that, we'll also turn and read for context from Leviticus 4. The Book of Hebrews, sometimes called the Sermon of the Book of Hebrews, makes constant reference, including in these verses, to the Old Testament sacrifices. We'll read verses 1 through 10, even as we'll focus on verses 6 through 10 this morning. People of God, let us hear the word of God. Now, even the first covenant had regulations for worship in an earthly place of holiness. For a tent was prepared, the first section in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of presents. It is called the holy place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the most holy place. having the golden altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna and Aaron's staff that budded and the tablets of the Covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this, the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing, which is symbolic for the present age. According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of Reformation. So far, the reading of God's Word in Hebrews. Let us turn back now to Leviticus chapter 4. It's page 105 in most of the Pew Bibles. Leviticus chapter 4. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus. And we'll be reading here. We're focusing much this morning upon the sin offering, which is referenced in verse 7 of Hebrews 9, including the sin offering for unintentional sins, and that is detailed in Leviticus chapter 4. We'll read verses 1 through 14. The description continues, but we'll read verses 1 through 14. Leviticus chapter 4. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the Lord's commandments about the things not to be done, and does any one of them, if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish to the Lord for a sin offering. He shall bring the bowl to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord and lay his hand on the head of the bowl and kill the bowl before the Lord. And the anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bowl and bring it into the tent of meeting. And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the veil of the sanctuary. And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before the Lord that is in the tent of meeting. And all the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out on the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And all the fat of the bull of the sin offering he shall remove from it. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails. And the two kidneys with the fat that is in them, and the loins, and the long lobe, and the liver, that he shall remove with the kidneys, just as these are taken from the ox of the sacrifice of the peace offerings. And the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. But the skin of the bull and its flesh, all its head, its legs, its entrails, its dung, all the rest of the bull he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place. To the ash heap he shall burn it up on a fire of wood. On the ash heap it shall be burned up." If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly and they do any of the things that by the Lord's commandments ought not to be done and they realize their guilt, When the sin which they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bowl from the herd for a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting." So far the reading, the grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our Lord endures forever. And dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, on the first Palm Sunday, one week before the resurrection, Jesus was a healthy, relatively young man. And the sacrifices, which had been instituted well over a thousand years before, even as we just read from the book of Leviticus, were still in operation. When Jesus enters on the donkey that day, they were performing the daily activities of the temple. The day before had been a Sabbath. They had replaced the bread of presence, sometimes called the showbread, as they had so many Sabbaths before. In other words, all of the weekly activities, all of the daily activities are still in effect. They are still occurring. Even on the first Palm Sunday, as Jesus comes on the donkey into Jerusalem, Now, on a much later Palm Sunday, almost 2000 Palm Sundays later, it is appropriate to think about what the sacrifices were on that day. They were still continuing as they had been for so long. What did these Old Testament sacrifices teach the people of God? What did they mean as they were being performed the day that Jesus came in on the donkey. And what do these Old Testament sacrifices, now fulfilled, no longer practiced, what do they still teach us now, the New Testament people of God? Well, especially this morning, we'll think about what the sin offering teaches us. The sin offering, detailed first in Leviticus chapter 4, referenced in Hebrews 9 verse 7. This offering which so clearly shows us that the very person of man is guilty. And yet all these ceremonies, all these ceremonies repeated so many thousands of times, they could only anticipate, they could only picture the removal of sin. They had to be repeated over and over and over. There needed to be Jesus himself coming into Jerusalem to actually fulfill, to actually accomplish what these things, including the sin offering we focus on this morning, pictured for us. For indeed, we need the work of Jesus Christ to wash all our sins away, all our sins away. So first, we'll start with a big definition of sin necessary. And then we'll look at sin, how the big ceremony, the ceremonies, the rituals of the Old Testament were insufficient. And then we'll look at the big transformation, anticipated and finished. So what is the big definition? What is the definition of sin, which the sin offering helps to give us? The sin offering was important on many occasions within the Old Testament system, including the sin offering that was a major part of the Day of Atonement. So there was the daily ceremonies, the weekly ceremonies, and there was annual feasts, and especially that feast called the Day of Atonement. In verse 7, that is what especially the author of Hebrews is referring to. But he goes, but once a year the high priest and not without taking blood. And so a sin offering was part of the Day of Atonement, but there were also sin offerings associated with other feasts. There was also sin offerings given on occasions for more personal matters. And so we're thinking now of the sin offering more broadly, and what the sin offering, looking at it in its bigger scope, teaches us about sin. Now there's different ways that we can categorize sin. Perhaps you've heard of speaking about sins of omission, sins of commission. Well this morning we're going to look at three categories of sin that is used to refer to what the sin offering does and its language of sin that the author of Hebrews repeats. And we'll see this as we work through our three points this morning. And so we're going to talk about three categories of sin that the Old Testament gives to us. There are more ways that we could think about this, but as it relates to the sin offering, we're going to think about three categories of sin. The first category is unintentional sins. Perhaps you saw that word in verse 7 of our text. He offers for himself And for the unintentional sins of the people. End of verse 7. And perhaps then you saw that word also in Leviticus chapter 4. Unintentional sins. What is that? What is an unintentional sin? It could also be translated, the word used in Hebrews 9, sins committed by a lack of knowledge. Sins committed unintentionally. Sins committed without knowing that we're committing sin. This is a scriptural category of sin. And these sins are serious sins. Does a sin of a lack of knowledge deserve judgment? Does a sin of a lack of knowledge require sacrifice? Romans 1, verse 18 says this, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Why do we have sins of a lack of knowledge? Because we all by nature suppress the truth. We are responsible for what we do not know and what we fail to do and what we fail to even to know to do for God. These are serious things. There can be judgment for sins done in ignorance. And so Romans chapter 10 Verse verses 1 to 4 speaks of that and listen to to the language of being ignorant in verse 3 brothers my heart's desire and prayer to God for them speaking of of rebellious Jews who are not believing in Jesus Christ. My heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone who believes. They had zeal, but it's not according to knowledge. They were ignorant of the righteousness of God. They committed sin of a lack of knowledge. Also sometimes translated, unintentional sin. This is a category of sin. Again, 2 Peter chapter 2 tells us that these sins deserve judgment. Sins of ignorance deserve Judgment, and so speaking of the false teachers in 2 Peter 2, verse 12, we hear this, but these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction. Sins of ignorance. Sin of a lack of knowledge, unintentional sin. This is a category of sin spelled out in the Old Testament and again in the New and it's sin that deserves judgment. Now there's a second category of sin. If you would turn back with me to Leviticus chapter five. Let's read three verses from Leviticus chapter five. So Leviticus four we could have read on. It goes on to give many more details about the sin offering for unintentional sins. And then Leviticus chapter 5 speaks of a second category of sin. Those sins which are done intentionally, but then soon recognized and repented of. And so that's the pattern we see in Leviticus chapter 5 verses 4 to 6. Or if anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that people swear and it is hidden from him when he comes to know it and he realizes his guilt in any of these, when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed. So what is it? It's a sin that you know it was a sin. It was an intentional sin. I committed a rash oath. That's the example in verse four. It's an intentional sin and you recognize it and you confess it. And for this, verse six, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. Okay, so sin offering. Big category, includes sacrifices for unintentional sins, Leviticus four. It also includes sacrifices for intentional sins. Leviticus chapter 5. Intentional sins for which there is repentance. Now there's a third category of sins and we'll continue to look at this into our second point. The third category is intentional sin where there is no repentance. The third category is intentional sin for which there is no repentance and this We'll look at in more detail soon in our second point. But here, it's contrasted with those sins for which there is a sacrifice. Again, we'll look at this more in our second point. Now let us step back. Why is it important to have these categories of sin? How is this helpful to us? People of God, we must know how God categorizes sin. These are scriptural categories of sin. And do we see that God has a big view of sin? God has a big view of sin, doesn't he? You know, it's tempting to do this. It's tempting for us to say, oh, you know, in this past week I'm confessing my sins and I know I was lazy on Friday. I know that I stretched the truth when I was talking to my friend on Wednesday. I know that I lusted on Tuesday. And so I'm going to confess those sins which I recognize, which I know were sin. And I'm going to make specific confession of those sins. And that ought to be done. That's Leviticus 5, bringing the offering for intentional sins, like a rash oath. And you recognize it and you confess it. And there's a personal sin offering for that. But what about all the sins that you don't even know? Because you're sinful by your nature and you fail to give glory to God. You fail to even know how you should give glory to God. How do we even give glory to God? How can I even do that? How can I even come before the holy perfect God and worship Him every second of every day as I ought to do? How can I do that? I don't even know. I truly, because I am sinful in my very person, I do not even know how to be holy. And God, I must not only confess, My specific sins. I must confess my very heart of sin before you. You see how this has a direct impact upon our prayer life, upon our understanding of sin. People of God, we must, following God Himself who defines sin for us, have a big view of sin the way God has. a big view of sin. Remember those three New Testament passages we read, Romans 1.18, Romans 10.3, 2 Peter 2.12? There is judgment for sins of suppressing the truth, for being ignorant of the righteousness of God, for blaspheming on matters of which they are ignorant. So the New Testament speaks of it even as it's following that Old Testament category of unintentional sins for which there needs to be repentance, there needs to be an offering. We can summarize it this way and more with these two words that start with W, wretch and worm. Are those fair words? Are those words that we can and should say about ourselves? You know, wretch and worm, these are not just terms of confession in old hymns. These are scriptural words. The Apostle Paul in one place says, I'm the chief of sinners. In another place he says, who will deliver me from this body of death, O wretched man that I am? What about worm? In Isaiah chapter 41, when God is describing His holy people, not the rebellious people of Israel, but when He's describing the righteous people of Israel in Isaiah chapter 41, He calls them worm Jacob. Do we have a big view of sin? Do we? No. In my very person, I'm a wretch. I'm a worm. I need God. My sins are big and worthy. of judgment, even my unintentional sins, even my sin from a lack of knowledge. Now, for this, big ceremony is insufficient. Now, there was big ceremony. There were elaborate rituals, right? We read just some of the details in Leviticus 4. That list goes on, and then it goes through how you do it for different persons, and that's just one of many chapters in the Old Testament that speaks about sin offerings. for this in offering on the day of atonement for which Hebrews and nine were seven make special reference now then there's even then there's even more details for how you do this in offering on the day of atonement and you do this in offerings different if you're doing it for the different categories now now here is here is here is a truth that's pulled through those big ceremonies when it was a specific sin such as a rash oh you have a personal sin offer You went to the priest and there was a sin offering just for you, for that specific sin that you confessed. And again, that's something we need to do. We need to come before the Lord and confess the specific sins we've committed in the course of the week. The sin offering for unintentional sins is for the whole congregation. Because everyone has done that. Everyone has big sin. Everyone has the sin of failing to know who God is, of suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, of being sinful in our very nature, of being conceived and born in sin. For the sin offering for intentional sins that you recognize, such as a wrath's oath and then you confess, that's for one individual, usually someone who's a little bit older, right? For the unintentional sins, that included That included the infants. That included man, woman, young, old. That included the whole congregation. Everyone, because we all have that sin. And the big ceremonies, the rituals, show us what? That we need a sacrifice for both of them. Again, tying it back to the fact that we need to have a big view of sin. We might say, well, there doesn't have to be a sacrifice for my unintentional sins. I didn't even know that was a sin. Why do I have to confess that? Because the Old Testament shows us very clearly that there has to be blood spilled for the whole congregation for unintentional sins. Again, that's consistent with the language of the New Testament, even those three passages we read, that there's judgment for suppressing the truth, for being ignorant, for failing to know even how to give glory to God, we could say. For both of the first two categories, unintentional sin of the whole congregation, specific intentional sins confessed, there is blood spilled. There is a ritual. Now the third category, there's no ritual for that. Now let's dig into the third category. Turn with me to Numbers chapter 15. Please turn with me to Numbers chapter 15. Remember the third category is intentional sins for which there's no repentance. There's no remorse as a sin is committed. There's no repentance after the sin is recognized. And now note, we're gonna read verses 27 to 31. And notice that the context is more details about the sin offering for unintentional sins. So they're connected, that's the context. And that leads into this in Numbers 15 verse 27. If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who makes a mistake, when he sins unintentionally, to make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven. You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, and for him who is a native among the people of God, and for the stranger and sojourners among them. Let us note there, again, unintentional sins, everyone's guilty of it, not just the people of Israel, also the sojourners, also those who are strangers. But, verse 30, the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is a native or a sojourner, reviles the Lord. And that person shall be cut off from among his people, because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken His commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off. His iniquity shall be upon him. You see, for the third category, there's no sacrifice. There's no blood to be spilled. If there is intentional sin with a high hand, the psalmist calls it presumptuous sin. We're going to see in the book of Hebrews, it's called deliberate sin. We're going to turn to Hebrews 10 soon. Deliberate sin. High-handed sin. There's no sacrifice. There's no sacrifice. If you commit sin without remorse, and you know it's sin, if you're sinning for the sake of sinning, and you never repent of that sin, there's no sacrifice. You see, people of God, understanding these biblical categories of sin is of utmost importance because it helps us to see the line between Christian and non-Christian, doesn't it? The non-Christian. commits sin intentionally without any remorse, any desire for repentance. There's no sacrifice for that. The Christian recognizes that he must both confess his particular sins that he knows and must confess even his unintentional sins, his sins of lack of knowledge, the sin of his very person. Now again, the book of Hebrews makes reference to these unintentional sins right there in Hebrews 9-7. If we turn over to Hebrews 10, it makes reference to those high-handed sins. In Hebrews 10-26, they're called deliberate sins. For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. That's actually implied in Numbers 15. It's actually made explicit in the New Testament. There's no sacrifice for these kinds of high-handed, presumptuous, deliberate sins. So, people of God, the ceremonies are so helpful for us because they show us where the spilling of blood is necessary and where there's no spilling of blood. This is very helpful for us to understand what our sin is. to understand what we must confess, to understand the difference between non-Christian confession of sin and the true confession of a true worshiper of God. But all these ceremonies, while they laid all this out, while they detailed it all, while they showed where there could be the spilling of blood, yet they were insufficient. They only pictured it. They only symbolized it. That's the language in verse 9. It was symbolic. That word could be translated, it was a parable. They were only ever a shadow. They were only ever a provisional command. They were only ever a first order that anticipated a new order and reformation at the end of verse 10. in Hebrews 9 of our text, to be translated, new order. It was only ever old, and that's how the word old is consistently used in the book of Hebrews. It's consistently used to refer to the system of the Mosaic sacrifices. It was only ever old. It was only ever not just old, but now, with the coming of Christ, obsolete. And that's the language of Hebrews 8, verse 7 and 13. These things in themselves were helpful then and are still helpful now for showing us what sin is. For what sin there could be the spilling of blood, but this blood, the blood of the old system just had to be spilled again and again and again. Thousands upon thousands upon tens of thousands upon, it's quite possibly millions plus of sacrifices. Literally the flowing of blood in the sin offering. The sin offering involved Some say that the priest had to do the sin offering because it took practice to get enough blood to make the blood flow. And that's the picture of the sin offering. There's blood flowing down, around, and from the altar. The blood flowed. But it flowed again, and again, and again, and again. And it flowed the day that Jesus Christ rode on the donkey. But it was never sufficient. It was helpful. It's still helpful to show us what sin is. But that blood, the blood of bulls and goats, couldn't take away sin. We need to get to our third point. And so we do so now. We need someone better. We need Jesus Christ. And so there was a big transformation that was anticipated and finished. We're not living in suspense until Resurrection Sunday next week because every Sunday is Resurrection Sunday. So we say not only big transformation anticipated, it is finished. Jesus didn't only ride in on the donkey, he also died on the cross, the spilling of his blood, the perfect sacrifice for sins. And it was a big change. Focusing in on that word Reformation in Hebrews 9 verse 10. Now we could use the word Reformation to mean a return to the way things used to be. The word Reformation can be used that way. That's how we use the word Reformation when we talk about the great Reformation of the 16th century, right? The medieval church had slowly, gradually drifted away from the truths to the truths of God's word, the truths of how the church was supposed to be instituted with three offices, basic things revealed in the New Testament, which the early church practiced, which the medieval church slowly drifted away from. And so it was a reformation, not of something new, but of getting rid of the clutter that had slowly climbed in and reforming to what the apostles instituted. Now the word reformation in Hebrews 9 verse 10 is being used in a different way. Here, the Reformation is not just a return to something, but it's a whole new order. It's the new replacing the old. It's the better replacing the obsolete. It's the permanent replacing the provisional. This is a big, not only Reformation, but transformation. I could almost wish they translated it transformation. They could have. This is what the coming of Jesus does. Until Jesus came, there was the holy and the holy of holies. But when Jesus not only lived, as he's living, on Palm Sunday, the sacrifices are still occurring. But when he dies on the cross, at that moment, when his work is finished, now the veil of the temple is torn. Do you remember Mark chapter 15, 37 and 38? And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Now all of those big rituals, which showed us what sin were, but with all the flowing of blood, could never actually take it away. Now that's all done. The one whom all those sacrifices anticipated, his blood now actually pays for sin. His blood actually can perfect the conscience of the worshipper. You see that at the end of verse nine. Remember sins, unintentional sins, it relates to our very heart, to our very person, not merely intentional external sins that we might commit. The conscience of the worshipper cannot be made clean by bulls and goats, but with this transformation, with the blood of Christ, and that's what is constantly referenced in verses 11 to 18, the blood of Christ. That does make the conscience of the worshipper clean. So pulling these things together then, people of God, we should have a big view of sin. We must have a big view of sin. But all of our sins, intentional, unintentional lack of knowledge. When we confess them, when we bring them to the feet of Jesus, when we're not being presumptuous or high-handed or deliberate in our sin, all of them Christ clears. All of them. We have a big view of sin, but Surely Christ is the bigger, better Savior. He is. And so Acts 13 verse 39 says it this way, By him, Jesus, everyone who believes is free from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. Colossians 2 verse 13, And you who were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses. As you go through this week, as you bring your prayers of confession before God, maybe you have used often in your prayers of confession the language of sins of omission and commission. Maybe you don't know that category. But people of God, we can also use these biblical categories laid out, spelled out in the Old Testament, repeated in the New Testament. Come before the Lord God in your prayers of confession this week and say, Lord, my very person, even the unintentional sins I commit, all that which I don't even know is sin, which I am committing against your holy name day by day, forgive me. Also, my sins which I know, which I confess specifically, all of them I bring to the feet of Jesus. All of them, I depend upon His blood to take the stain away. The wretch can say, I am saved by amazing grace. The worm can say, alas, my Savior did bleed for me. The sinner, weighed down with guilt, sorry for sin, seeing the full impact of it, can say, stricken, smitten, and afflicted for me, Jesus Christ has taken the awful load of my sin upon Himself. so that in Him my hope is sure. Amen. Let us pray. Lord God Almighty, we thank You that You have shown us in the ceremonies of old what sin is, for what blood can be spilled, But so much more than this, we thank you that not only the shadow, but also the reality, the very blood of your precious son, our Savior Jesus Christ, was spilled. To not only picture the removal of all sin, but to actually take away the stain of all our sins. And so we pray in the name of our precious Savior,