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What We Believe and Why - Vol. II
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1982
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.

Chapter Ten
The True Altar

INTRODUCTION: TEXT: Hebrews 13:10

Today there is abundant confusion about altars. Earthly altars have already served their missions, yet many religious people, including many Baptists, still worship at man-made, earthly altars. We believe there is but one altar today and that altar is Christ Jesus who is in heaven. We believe it is wrong today for anyone to worship upon an earthly altar.

I. THERE WERE MANY BIBLE ALTARS AND THEY ALL SERVED A PURPOSE.

A. Through the pages of the Old Testament, dozens of references are made to altars.

1. Genesis 8:20 says, "Noah builded an altar to the Lord." Abraham did the same (Genesis 12:7), as did Jacob (Genesis 35:1), Moses (Exodus 17:15), Elijah (I Kings 18:30) and many others.

2. David said, "I go unto the altar of God." (Psalm 43:4)

3. In God's tabernacle there was an altar of incense (Exodus 30:27) and an altar of burnt offering. (Exodus 40:10)

4. It is surely accurate to say that among the Israelites of the Old Testament altars were common.

B. The Old Testament altar served as a center of worship.

1. It was a place where sins were judged and a sacrifice for sins was offered.

2. For example, in the case of the burnt offering of Leviticus 1:3-17, verse 5 says, "The priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation."

3. Indeed the entire book of Leviticus will show you the central position of the altar under the Old Testament or old covenant.

4. The Old Testament priests waited at the altar according to I Corinthians 9:13 and mediated between God and God's people.

a. Day after day those priests offered sacrifice after sacrifice before God upon the altar on behalf of the people. As Hebrews 7:27 shows, those priests offered "up sacrifice, first for his [their] own sins then for the people's."

b. These Old Testament priests stood before that altar constantly mediating for the people. Hebrews 10:11 says, "and every priest standeth daily ministering and offering the same sacrifices."

5. So the Old Testament altar was a place where God met with His people through a mediating priest.

6. The altar served as a meeting place for God to meet with His people.

II. EVERY GOD AUTHORIZED OLD TESTAMENT ALTAR WAS A FORETYPE.

A. No Old Testament altar, or priest who offered a sacrifice thereon, ever took away sins.

1. Hebrews 10:11 mentions those priests and their sacrifices, "which can never take away sins."

2. Hebrews 10:1 declares no part of the law (and the altar and its sacrifices was a part) can "make the comers there unto perfect." As Hebrews 7:11 asks, "If perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, [for under it the people received the law] what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?"

3. Paul affirms to us in Galatians 2:16, "by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

4. So the altar was not the real place where God meets man. It was only designed to point men forward to the true meeting place.

B. It should, therefore, be evident why the scriptures call the law, of which the altar was a part, "a shadow of good things to come."

1. Listen to Hebrews 8:5 speak of those priests that offer gifts according to the law, "who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things."

2. Hebrews 9:9 says the tabernacle "was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered [on the altar] both gifts and sacrifices."

3. Hebrews 9:24 refers to the holy places of the Old Testament, "Which are the figures of the true."

4. And, Hebrews 10:1 speaks of the law as "a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things."

5. Every altar was a finger pointing forward to something better. It was typical or symbolic of the true altar which would some day arrive. No doubt many who came to the altar could see nothing beyond, but in so failing, they missed the whole message of the altar.

C. God gave careful instructions concerning the building of Old Testament altars so that the typology or symbolism would be correct.

1. Exodus 20:24-26 teaches the altar was to be either of earth or stone.

a. Earth speaks of the depths to which Christ condescended to become a man to save us. Consider II Corinthians 8:9 which says, "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." We are created from "earth" and "the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us...." (John 1:14)

b. Stone speaks of Christ as "the rock" (Luke 20:17-18) and is descriptive of His deity and divine nature.

2. The altar could never be of "hewn stone," nor could a man lift a tool upon it. If so, the altar would be polluted. (Exodus 20:25) Manmade alteration of the altar would symbolically say that Jesus Christ was a mere man, the son of Joseph, or the work of man's doing.

3. God's altar was never to be constructed so that one had to ascend steps to reach it. (Exodus 20:26)

III. THE TRUE ALTAR TO WHICH THESE FORETYPES POINTED WAS JESUS CHRIST. HE IS THE TRUE ALTAR.

A. The typology met its end or fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

1. This is why Hebrews 13:10 says, "We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle." The following verses explain who our altar is. Verse 12 calls Him "Jesus" and verse 13 says, "Let us go forth therefore unto him..."

2. Romans 10:4 says, "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." The end is the fulfillment. In other words, there is no need to look any longer for the real thing to which the symbols all pointed. It has arrived.

3. The true meeting place for men to meet God is Jesus Christ.

a. I Timothy 2:5 thus reads, "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."

b. Unlike the Levitical priests who offered sacrifices continually, Jesus Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice and altar only once, but in so doing, accomplished what all the priests, altars and sacrifices put together before Him were never able to accomplish. Listen to Hebrews 10:10-14, "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."

c. In view of what He accomplished, He will never again offer anything on any altar.

4. Therefore, the scriptures are quick to exalt Christ as the true altar to which we are to come. Listen to Hebrews 8:1-2, "Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens: A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man."

B. Christ, therefore, is our altar and He is not on earth but in heaven.

1. Hebrews 9:24 declares, "Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us."

2. Of Him Hebrews 10:12 says, "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God."

3. You can see, then, why Hebrews 4:14-16 tells God's people that if they are to meet with God (which purpose an altar serves), then they must come to Him in the heavens. "Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God... Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace...."

C. Since Christ is the fulfillment of the types and symbols which the Old Testament altars were, then we no longer come to the types and symbols but to the true altar which they symbolize.

1. The alien sinner is only able to come unto and meet with God through hearing and believing the gospel (John 5:24), which is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 15:1-4) The gospel is God's means of saving the lost, (Romans 1:16) and all those who hear and believe it have met with God in Christ. (Ephesians 2:13-16)

2. Also, the believer can only come to God through Christ who is the high priest or mediator. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

3. The fact is that there is no real or true altar outside of Christ, no other place where God will meet man.

a. Yet, today many insist on some man-made altar, usually of wood, not of earth or unhewn stone. They are not uncommon in homes, and they are very common in so-called church buildings.

b. These contraptions are sometimes called altars, but more often "mourners' benches."

c. Now, the question arises, in view of these, "Why go to an earthly altar, when God's word tells us to come to the true altar which is in heaven? Why go beyond what God's word specifies?" Also, "What possible purpose could any earthly altar serve today, when the true altar is already available?"

d. Is it not a fact that since Christ is the true altar, then when anyone sets up an earthly altar, they are, in fact, saying there is an altar (meeting place with God) outside of Christ?

e. And, is it not a fact that when anyone goes before an earthly altar they are showing a scorn and disregard for the true altar which is in the heavens?

4. Under the new covenant, a "mourner's bench" or earthly altar is not mentioned nor described nor permitted.

a. The so-called "altars" or "mourners' benches" of today have not long existed in Baptist churches. History proves they are borrowed relics of Roman Catholicism, which Protestant reformers brought with them during the reformation. The records show that true Christians had refused them for centuries, as they did holy water, lighted candles, infant baptism, etc.

b. Man-made altars give man a false hope by causing him to think he can be saved by praying at an altar, while the fact is that there is no promise in God's word that he will save anyone by prayer or any other means outside of faith. A man might be saved while at a mourner's bench, but never because he was there.

c. Christ freed us from the law contained in Jewish ordinances, yet many Baptists try to reinstate them in part by a mourner's bench. God, in speaking on the ordinances of the law, said in Hebrews 10:38, "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."

D. The truth is that we do not need any other altar than Christ.

1. He is all sufficient. In Him you can meet directly with God. He is the meeting grounds.

2. Why then should anyone want another altar? What possible purpose could it serve? You can't improve upon the true altar and Christ is the true altar.

E. Therefore, as Hebrews 13:10-13 says, "We have an altar...Jesus...Let us go therefore unto him." You'll never find another place where you can meet with God. Whenever you want to meet with God, turn your attention to heaven where the true altar is, not to earth on which there is no true altar.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"