"11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, 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.
Open your Bibles with me to the book of Hebrews, the tenth chapter. As we continue in our study of this wonderful book, we come to a very impressive portion of Scripture For a great many people, as you begin reading it, you become very much aware that it is not easy to understand.. Hopefully, when we're through, you will have a better understanding about the effectiveness of Christ's sacrifice.
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will write them,”
He then says,
17 “And their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.”
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin."
Good Morning my beloved,
In recent years, America has becoming more and more "spiritual" while becoming less and less involved
with Christ, who is the head of the church. As a result, our spirituality is taking us
down darkened avenues far removed from true biblical Christianity. All around us we see a large segment of the culture embracing Eastern religion and mysticism. Christianity is unique in the fact, God’s grace and love is unconditional, which comes to us through His Son Jesus Christ. In Whom we receive the unmerited acceptance from a Holy God. God's grace is turns karma on its ear.
The sacrifice of Jesus is complete, its final. Even though we all will sin again, the
payment for our sin has already been paid, in full, by the death of Jesus Christ; the sacrifice already has been made. We are made positionally perfect through the imputed righteousness of Christ. We are made practically righteous through sanctification. However, we must acknowledge our sins and seek His forgiveness, to be made fit for heaven. We cannot earn salvation, there is
no way to earn any more grace than we have already been given. Earl may
believe that we can undo the bad in our lives and get some good karma,
but we can’t do that. Jesus has already done it. Christ's sacrifice was a sacrifice of grace. That’s grace.
True Christians, grow; we are transformed; we are changed, abandoning our our old sinful ways. God will never abandon us as we struggle to live more faithful lives. Grace
forgives us and then empowers us to try again and again.
Let us bow our heads in prayer.
Heavenly Father,
Father, as always, we are so very thankful for Your Word. Thank You for this great gift of salvation, for which we confess, we are unworthy. Thank You for allowing us to come into Your presence, accept our express of gratitude through our worship and praise. We are so grateful, for the sacrifice of Your Son Jesus. Thank You that He would become our substitute, that He would bear in His body our judgment and our punishment. Thank
You that He would feel the wrath that should have been placed on us. Lord, cleanse us, wash us and make us clean, make us like Christ.
In His name we pray
Amen
Today's Message: The Heart Of The Matter - Forgiveness
Many of the people to whom the letter to the Hebrews was written were struggling
with their Christian faith. They were being tempted to go back to their
old ways of thinking. They were being tempted to try to find a way to
accommodate their old ways with their new Christian faith.
God created us to be a community of grace, we weren't meant to walk this wonderful Christian journey alone. I believe that we need desperately one another, we need to counsel, correct, guide, and encourage each other. There are, perhaps times, when I am feeling weak in my faith and I need you to prop me up
and allow me to lean on you. There are times when I am feeling confused and I need
you to show me me what I am missing. There are times when I’m tired and weary, when I
need you to help me carry the load. There are times when I am fed up
and discouraged, I need you to just sit and listen to me. There are times
when I just don’t care anymore and I need you to give me a reason to go on. There are times when I can’t see Jesus and I need you to be His face and reassure me that He is real. And, I imagine, that there are
times when you need those things too, and rely on me to be there for you.
I invite you to follow along with me as I read to set the text in our minds, as we prepare our hearts for God's Word for us today. Hebrews 10:11-18. Listen for the Spirit of our Lord.
"Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
Leviticus had 24 orders of priests and all 24 of them had their own calendar, and they each served through the year at the appropriate time Each priest that stood in the priestly office, ministered over and over. And, all of these priest were offering sacrifices over and over, because they could not eliminate sin, so they had to repeat it day after day, over and over. The old covenant economy was never able to provide finality. That is until Jesus offered one ultimate sacrifice one time for sins for all time and then sat down. His work was absolutely unrepeatable. It was the ultimate sacrifice.
“This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will write them,”
He then says,
“And their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.”
Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin."
We have been set apart from sin by faith, a repentant faith, a desire to be obedient
to God, to love God, to acknowledge God, to believe His Word. Through faith in Christ,God accepts our faith and grants us forgiveness of sin on the basis of Christ's sacrifice. It is only by the death of Jesus Christ, that we are set apart from sin. Because Christ offers a perfect sacrifice, by that one offering, we are sanctified, which is an ongoing process, until we are perfected in glory with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ..
In verse 11, the author writes, "Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;" Verse 12, likely sounds a bit familiar, that is because it's very similar to the point we just made about sanctifying. " but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God."
Leviticus had 24 orders of priests and all 24 of them had their own calendar, and they each served through the year at the appropriate time Each priest that stood in the priestly office, ministered over and over. And, all of these priest were offering sacrifices over and over, because they could not eliminate sin, so they had to repeat it day after day, over and over. The old covenant economy was never able to provide finality. That is until Jesus offered one ultimate sacrifice one time for sins for all time and then sat down. His work was absolutely unrepeatable. It was the ultimate sacrifice.
The sacrifice of Christ is the masterpiece of the universe, a
masterpiece of all the ages. It not only cannot be repeated, it need not be
repeated because it removed sins once and for all on behalf of those who
believe. The work Christ did on the cross carries with it all of these perfections.
In verse 13, we see it destroyed His enemies, and they have been made a "footstool for His feet." The overpowering of all of God’s enemies is accomplished in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That’s quite a remarkable statement. Of course, the ultimate enemy, is Satan, whose head was to be devastatingly bruised by the One who came.In fact, Hebrews 2:14 says "..that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil."
The day is approaching when having already bruised the serpent’s head, Christ will
take the earth, cast Satan, his unholy fallen angels, and all ungodly men into the
eternal lake of fire, as illustrated in the book of Revelation.
And let this stand as a warning to all who reject. His sacrifice is
perfect because it does what all the Old Testament sacrifices could
never do and that is destroy the enemies of God and bring them under the
sovereign feet of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords
In verse 14, says, "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified."
Here, we see that His sacrifice was sufficient and perfect because it has an eternal impact, perfecting forever the saints. Unlike the constant sacrifices in the old covenant, it provided eternal forgiveness. In the old covenant, forgiveness was tied to sin, and new forgiveness had to be sought after each sin, a reminder that forgiveness was needed. Christ's sacrifice affirms God's faithfulness and trust worthiness, and fulfills God's promise for a new covenant.
In verse 15 and following, we find "And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And on their mind I will write them,” He then says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
Here, we have a wonderful reference to Jeremiah chapter 31. in verses 31-33, Jeremiah is the
vehicle by which God promises a new covenant, a covenant that will cause
the law of God to be written on their hearts and on their minds, a
covenant that means their sins and lawless deeds will be forgotten. I'll just quickly read that to you. "Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
God's people, waited and waited for the fulfillment of that promise that their beloved prophet Jeremiah, being inspired by the Holy Spirit, spoke of. Finally, in Jesus Christ, the new covenant came, just as God said it would. That's God's promise fulfilled! He sums it all up, in verse 18, when he says "Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin."
In Closing..
Thanks to Christ, we are able to lean on that one sacrifice for our eternal salvation, for all time and eternity. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ then is effective forever, for all who believe because it fulfills God’s promise and design. It replaces the inadequate old covenant system. It sanctifies the believer, removing sin and
replacing it with righteousness. It destroys the enemy and all who would follow
him. It brings with it eternal security and it fulfills the promise of
God, therefore, convincing us of His faithfulness. It is perfection, in that
nothing ever need be added to it. All we are ever asked to do is believe.
Though we don’t have a document, as like a will or contract, but we do have a Living Savior, Who, by His sacrifice, committed the
most unselfish loving act in the history of mankind. Jesus Christ went
to the cross at Calvary so that we would be absolved of all blame and
would be fully forgiven.Thank God, we are the privileged of God’s people, who live on this side of Calvary. Today, we can see the fullness of what Christ provided. I am so thankful for His amazing grace.
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
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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