Sanctified Once And For All

 

 

 

 

 

"For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. ² Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? ³ But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. ⁴ For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ⁵ Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired,
But a body You have prepared for Me;
⁶ In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure. ⁷ “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the book it is written of Me) To do Your will, O God.’” ⁸ After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), ⁹ then He aid, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰ By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. "

Hebrews 10:1-10

 

Good Morning my beloved,

 

Welcome to worship this Lord's day! We're so glad to have our brothers and sisters from around the world here with us today. Please know, that we continue to lift all of you up in our prayers. We would  ask that you would do the same for us. We praise God that He continues to grow our ministry, allowing us to reach even more people! I would like to invite you to share it with all of your family and friends. May it all be for Christ's sake and God's glory and the increase of the kingdom of God. 

 

Worship! Worship is the hearts natural response of those who have been set free and delivered into the presence of the One True Living God. Surely when we enter into the family of God by grace through faith, the presence of God the Spirit is given to us; with the promise never to leave us. If we were to see the glory of the Lord, and recognized that divine effulgence as His glory, we would unquestionably worship. Worship is ascribing to God His worth. It is giving God the glory that is due His Name. To worship is to honor God. It is to permit oneself to marvel at His grace, to adore His Person, to wonder at His majesty, to rejoice in His goodness and to be fascinated with His love. Even when we magnify His name, God can not be manipulated.

 

There is little doubt that we who participate in various rituals surrounding what we commonly call “worship” generally feel good about our actions. Christians from the liturgical tradition speak of the dignity of their services and insist that through participating in the familiar rituals they derive comfort and a sense that they have truly worshiped. Christians practicing evangelicalism assert that the freedom they experience permits them to respond to the movement of the Spirit and that this freedom is a source of comfort. A common theme in either of these forms of worship allows the worshiper to feel comfortable. Typical in either form of worship is the sense of gratification the worshipers derives as he feels good about what has transpired during worship because they have fulfilled the expected norm. If we understand what we are seeking, we are far more likely to find it.it

 

Let us pray.

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Father, we thank You for Your Word. Thank You for our salvation. And, oh, what a glorious salvation it is. Lord, thank You for the deep truths in Your Word, so rich, we pray that You will help us to better understand them, so that we can apply them and grow deeper in our relationship with You We pray for those who are still lingering in their faith, those who have rejected You, that You would ignite the flames of passion for Your Word in us, that we might share these truths with them.

May it all be for Your good glory and for Christ's sake

Amen

 

Today's Message: Sanctified Once And For All

Open your Bibles with me to the book of Hebrews, in our on going study of the book we come to the tenth chapter, we come to the fact that Jesus’ sacrifice is better. Not only is He a better priest, not only did He secure and become the surety and the mediator of a better covenant, but He made a better sacrifice. We find the characteristics of the death of Christ, which supply all that was lacking in the old sacrifices. And some of the things in chapter 10 are repeated from chapter 9 and are expanded here in chapter 10.

 

I would like to invite you to follow along with me as I read to set the text in our minds, as we prepare our hearts for a Word from the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 10:1-10.

 

"For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure. ⁷ “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the book it is written of Me) To do Your will, O God.’” ⁸ After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), ⁹ then He aid, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰ By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

In verse 1, "For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near." Note, it says the law was only a shadow and not the very image, and though it was continuously done, it could never, make those perfect.

There is vast difference between a shadow and an image. An image what we see when we look into a mirror. Whereas, a shadow is what we see when light is obstructed by an object. The Law was the visible, yet not fully discernible outline left, when the light of Heaven was shaded by sin. The real thing is still on the other side but at least the veil has been torn by the "image of God." 

 

It says it was a shadow of good things to come. This is speaking of the privileges and blessings that came through the sacrifice of Christ. And the law was a picture of those things. In John chapter 1, he said "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" All of the blessings and the privileges which come to us in the death of Christ were foretold in the Old Testament sacrifices. However, in the old covenant, the access to God, security and the power were missing. They weren't there. They were only a shadow of the things to come. They were pictured but not present, in other words. The old covenant could never bring a man into the presence of God. We needed a new covenant. That's only possible through Jesus Christ, a new covenant, a better covenant. You cannot pile up a bunch of shadows and end up with a substance.

 

 

In I Peter 1, Peter said, "As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look."

 

It served to remind them that God is holy and doesn’t like sin, and, with all that sacrificing going on, they were constantly being reminded that the wages of sin is death because death was going on all day. However, they didn't remove sin, they only covered it up.

 

In verse 2, he says if it would have been effective, they would have stopped doing it, they wouldn't have had the need to continue. "Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?" Once purged, worshipers should have had no more consciousness of sins The burden of guilt would have been removed. If the old sacrificial system had worked, they wouldn't have needed to continue it.It would have brought them into a right relationship with God.

So, in verse 3, .He says "But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year." In other words, sin wasn't removed, it was only temporarily covered up. Rather than the old covenant removing sin, it just stood as a constant reminder that sin was not removed. And, every time they sinned, there was a remembrance. Guilt is the consciousness of sin, it's God built in system, like pain, that something isn't right. They weren't forgiven.

 

That's why the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 8 verse 1, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." That's the beauty of the Christian life, isn't it? Knowing that our sins have been and are continually being forgiven by the grace of God through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. As Christians, it's not that we don't sin, because do. Christians are likely more sensitive to sin that any one else, we are sinners saved by grace, however, its the assurance that our sins are forgiven. The difference is that sin will lead the true follower of Christ to immediate repentance, its not a license to sin.

 

That's the problem we see occurring int the church today, is forgiveness is being taken lightly. Through His Word, God has revealed this glorious revelation in Christ for you, that you might not perish, but that you might come to Christ and have your sins forgiven. People are not turning away from sin, but continuing in it. There should be no one  more painfully aware of sin than a regenerate soul.

 

That's why I John 1:8 says "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us." And he goes on to say in verses 9-10, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us." You see, it’s always the believer that is sensitive to sin. There's a vast difference between having no more conscience of sin as a believer and not having any sensitivity to it. It simply means that we are delivered from the fear of judgment for it.

 

Look, that's the problem with Catholicism, the Catholic mass, is a re-crucifixion of Jesus every week. Jesus is crucified every Sunday morning. That is nothing more than a constant reminder that they’re not forgiven. Jesus Christ needed to be crucified only once. That's a continuation of the old covenant. Jesus Christ paid the debt for sin in full.

 

Isn't that the point of I John 2:12, which says "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake." But then He reminds us in verses 15-17, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever."

 

So, in verse 4, he says "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." They didn't get to the heart of the issue, it was external. They were only dealing the outside, not the heart. You have to deal with the heart. You have to change a man’s nature. There has to be a transformation inside to reverse the external moral trend. 

 

God really nails it down in verses 5-6, "Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, But a body You have prepared for Me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure." They took something that was meant to be been a symbol of real faith and they turned it into a ritual where there was no faith. That's the point. They were worshiping Baal and having orgies all week long, and they’d all roll into the temple regularly to make their sacrifices. They were carrying out the ritual, but there was no reality there at all.

 

Notice He's quoting Psalm 40:6-8 here. "Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart."

 

That's a pretty powerful statement, that's a reminder that God didn’t like the old system. God accepts a sacrifice made out of an obedient heart, and, if it's not, He doesn't accept it. God wants obedience. Sacrifice should be a token of love and devotion to God, a symbol of obedience, not an external ritual.

 

In verse 7, He throws a shot at the Jewish readers, "Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come
(In the scroll of the book it is written of Me) To do Your will, O God." 

 

In other words, it is written right there in your text. Remember Luke 24, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus said "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?" If you had known your own text, you’d have known who I am." How foolish you are?

In John 5:39, Jesus said "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;" 

Verse 8, is the author’s commentary on Psalm 40, "After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law),"

He takes away the first, so that he may establish the second. God is saying, the old way didn't work, so I'm preparing a body to the job. I don’t have any pleasure in that, it doesn't bring men access into My presence. God planned it all along, that’s the point of the text.

He says in verse 9, " then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second."  The Jews were always accusing the Christians of bringing in some heresy, and so they always related to Old Testament passages. That is why He said that. Christ is a better sacrifice because it replaces the old. 

In John 1:17, "For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." 

And look at verse 10, where He says, "By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."  He says "By this will," what will is that? God's will. He's saying that God's will sent Christ.  When Jesus died on that cross and you put your faith in Him, you became sanctified, you were set apart. It is God’s will is that you be sanctified, not only positionally but practically.

Sanctified is the Greek work, "ēgiasmenoi," from the word "hagios," meaning saint, holy, set apart, given to God.It's speaking about permanence. It is in the strongest sense the permanent, continual state of salvation, in which the believer exists.

In I Thessalonians 4, the Apostle Paul says, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you." 

And in II Corinthians 7:1, He says "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

He is talking about practically here, God’s will is that we be practically holy to match out position. We are positionally holy in Christ. Practically, we're badly hurting. A man must be holy to enter God's presence, his sin has to be removed. You cannot do that for yourself, Christ imparted His righteousness to us, because we have believed. So,when God looks at us, He sees Christ's righteousness. 

There are some things that cannot be reproduced, Christ's finished work on the cross is one of them.

In Closing..

Deuteronomy chapter 10 says, ".. what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the  highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it."

We do not get to tell God what we will do in the realm of salvation, as though He will readily accept whatever we choose to throw His way. Salvation is God's plan, God's way. God will accept only that which is acceptable to Him. Therefore, we must accept the precious gift of salvation on God's terms, and we demonstrate our gratitude through our obedience!

 

 May it be so..

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen

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