For All Time
Notes
Transcript
Welcome/Book Recommendation/Prayer
Open to Hebrews 10:11-18...
Our passage closes the exposition the author began way back in chapter 4 in regard to the Melchizedekian priesthood..
Since chapter 4, the author has been comparing and contrasting the Levitical priesthood with the Melchizedekian priesthood… which is the priesthood of Jesus Christ...
In doing so the author has pointed out the flaws of the old covenant, of the old priesthood, and all of its intangibles and has shown how the Melchizedekian priesthood, with it’s covenant, the new covenant, and with it’s one and only priest, Jesus Christ… how it is superior through the sufficiency of the work of Christ… through the offering of His body
Thus, the old, is no longer needed and is in fact obsolete.
Next week, beginning with v. 19, the author will begin to peel back the layers of application that come from the truths the author has revealed in these past 7 chapters …
Today, let us focus on how the author ends his exposition...
We’ll read the passage in its entirety
Then we’ll consider how the author contrasts one last time the priesthood of Christ and the priesthood of Old…
And then we’ll conclude by considering the admonition the author provides in v. 18…
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
In v. 11, the author begins by pointing out the futility of the earthly priests work… that is the daily work of the Levitical priests
He reminds us that this work, these offerings do not, and cannot ever take away sin…
Unlike the offering of Christ which he just mentioned in v. 10 as we covered last week...
So, as we see here… v. 11 mentions the earthly work of the Levitical priesthood-- in light of the work of Christ
An intentional contrast going on here...
A point the author has repeated numerous times, and one would wonder why it needs to be repeated...
Simply because it needs to be repeated...
Our tendency, our temptation to forsake the Melchizedekian priesthood… to turn our back on Christ, by denying the sufficiency of His offering for some other way… is strong...
And the ramifications are serious… are eternal… ramifications that are worth burning at the stake for in order to avoid them… as many of our brothers and sisters of old have done in the past...
You may wonder why I call out the Catholic Mass… and the theology that the Catholic church espouses…
It’s because they are the modern day Levites…
I have spoken at length in previous sermons, referencing the Catholic Church Catechism and it’s beliefs and how it forsakes the work of Christ and blasphemes the blood of Christ…
For by trusting in another offering, in another sacrifice, to deal with our sin, other than the one that has already been offered, already been accepted… is to deny that offering, and thus deny the one, Jesus, who offered it…
This is not an obvious or easily avoided error...
If we are left to our own wits and whims, we will stray… even in the middle of the first century believers were tempted to stray from the once for all sacrifice of Christ...
Hence why the author of Hebrews writes this letter… and reminds them of how ineffective the Law is in perfecting the conscience of the person in order to draw near to God eternally…
And remember, the Law, and the priesthood, are intimately connected and cannot be separated… Heb 7.12
12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.
And just as the author saw the dangers of his people being easily led astray...
I do my best to remind you of the dangers of false teachings and theologies… over and over again… you may hear it… but you’ll quickly forget it… if you’re not careful… I’ll quickly forget it, if I’m not careful...
For such things that are dangerous, are often the things that seem the most safe
The author continues his argument in v. 12 by once again mentioning the sufficiency of Christ’s one sacrifice by stating that Christ - having offered for all-time… a single… sacrifice… for sins… He then sat down at the right hand of God
Don’t miss the intentional contrast...
V. 11 - Every priest, so multiple people...
Stands daily, so always at work - never sitting
Repeating the same sacrifices - never perfecting, never accomplishing what needs to be accomplished - the removal of sins
V. 12 - Christ - one person
Offered a single sacrifice for sins - One sacrifice, not to be repeated - totally effective in perfecting the people… that is in removing sin - for all time
Hence - He sat down - He’s done… not to be asked by some arrogant priest to offer Himself up again and again for the sins of the people…
There is not another sacrifice… but only one… and He has made it, and it was enough… the sacrificial work for the atonement of sins is finished...
And Christ is there now, at the right hand of the Father, where He told the council He would be… and where Stephen saw Him… though for Stephen, Jesus stood to receive Stephen as he was struck down with stones...
And Christ will remain there, until His enemies become a footstool for His feet… that is until all things, come into full submission to Him...
If you recall, this language comes from the author’s apparent favorite Psalm… Psalm 110… and in this instance v. 1...
The author explains why all of this is so in v. 14
For, again, by a single offering, Christ has for all time perfected those who are being sanctified… I want to look at these two words “all time” for a moment...
This is actually one Greek word here: διηνεκής - means continuous, without break or interruption… unending...
Therefore, the effects of Christ’s offering upon His people will never end… though His work is done… the effects of the result remain and persist... His people are perfected and sanctified for all time— for διηνεκής
And we talked about our sanctification at great length last week… but as a quick reminder, this refers to us being made holy
And when the author speaks of perfection in his letter which he has several times, he speaks of a cleansing, a purification of one’s conscience and heart, one’s soul… the perfection (τελειόω) or the completeness and end of which is needed to draw near to God - for God is holy, holy, holy...
The author continues in v. 15-17 by bringing in the testimony of the Spirit… specifically through the New Covenant passage of Jeremiah 31:31-34… which the author brought up explicitly back in chapter 8.
33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
This time however, he focuses on v. 33-34 and he actually removes the middle portion of those two verses as he intends to focus on the the work of God in the new covenant...
But before we speak to that… we need to consider something...
How can the author say the Spirit bears witness by quoting Jeremiah, who never mentions the Spirit speaking to or through him?
Consider 2 Peter 1.21
21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
But also consider the Old Testament - Nu 11.29
29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”
6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.
And there a number of other references in the Old Testament that testify that for a prophet to speak the Word of God, the Spirit must speak through him… so it is here with Jeremiah...
And again the author shows the priority of His understanding on how to view the Word of God as delivered to us by the prophets of old… it is God, Himself, speaking...
Therefore, the 3rd person of the Holy Trinity testifies to the single offering of Christ as the all sufficient sacrifice, regardless of what the Roman Catholic Church claims… or anyone else who thinks they have a better understanding than God Himself as what is found to be acceptable or not as an atoning sacrifice...
This is the plain, faithful reading of Scripture...
Now, what is the work of God in the New Covenant of which the Spirit testifies, that the author is highlighting for us...
It’s perfection of His people
A perfection made possible by God putting His laws… His Word, His truth, His way, His righteousness, His holiness in them… on their hearts and written on their minds… the new self… the Christ in us… His Spirit abiding in us...
A perfection brought about... by God no longer remembering our sins and lawless deeds...
A perfection, a sanctification… brought about by our forgiveness… our reconciliation… all made possible by that single sacrifice of Jesus Christ… in other words… our justification...
Our legal work before God has been decided… it has been settled...
We who rebelled against the Almighty, who became traitors in sin, by nature and action, both in thought and in deed…
We who are finite… in offending an infinite perfectly holy God… had incurred a penalty, a debt, so great, we could never pay it back for He is eternal, unending, but we are not… thus we can never match that payment...
We have been reconciled… justified… that is our court case has been judged, and judgment has been passed, and judgment has been served...
This is not a case dismissal… for there is not justice in that… and the debt would remain… someone has to pay it… someone has to serve it… and someone did pay… someone did serve...
Jesus Christ, the Son of God… this is why He is the just and the justifier… let me stop talking and let God explain it through His apostle… Rom 3.21-28
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Therefore, when we sin, we must not think we must repent via some legal means… or that we must do something to cover the penalty or debt we think we have incurred with God…
This is the fallacy of Roman Catholicism… that your sins are covered by grace up to the point of you being born again, but after… any sin you commit then must be dealt with via some sacrament… whether it be penance, confession, communion, indulgences… or time served in purgatory
It’s not that confession and communion don’t have their place… a quote from the Puritan, Thomas Boston, may prove to be beneficial here…
“Believers ought not to mourn over, or confess their iniquities, in a legal manner, viewing them as committed by persons under the covenant of works; but ought to confess and mourn over them as sins done against a reconciled father, and breaches of his law as a rule of life.”
In other words, we ought to confess and mourn because we have taken for granted His love… we have made ourselves to be liars in what we profess… we have become by our actions, like Peter on the night of our Lord’s betrayal…
But praise God, that even like Peter (Mk 16.7), He remains with us and asks us to still meet with Him...
For where sin abounds… grace abounds all the more...
Therefore, in light of the testimony of the Spirit— the author concludes by saying in v. 18 - Where there is forgiveness of these… “these” being the sins and lawless deeds of v. 17...
Where there is forgiveness of these — there is no longer any offering for sin
Another way of saying this, is this— There is no other way to receive forgiveness… the work which provides forgiveness— has been done, accomplished, offered and accepted…
No matter how hard you pray… how holy you believe yourself to be… you cannot get the Son to leave the right hand of God to offer Himself again, as a sacrifice… bloodless or otherwise...
Any other way, any other attempt at achieving reconciliation and forgiveness of sins is false worship…
It is not innocent worship…
It is sinful worship… it is false and foolish
For it is something that is lesser… that is not true… and thus it is not life giving… but life sucking… it kills and destroys… and leads people to everlasting damnation…
Therefore, don’t forsake the Melchizedekian priesthood for something else… and if you have...
Then repent, and turn once again to the single offering of Jesus Christ...
Look…we need to understand… no one here is immune to this temptation… it’s why the author writes… it is why God speaks to us... as long as we have to deal with indwelling sin, we will be tempted to deny the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice… as the Hebrews of this letter were… we will be tempted as the Galatians were when Paul wrote them...
This is why we need faithful expository preaching… not just you, but me as well… along with the worship and fellowship that flows out of that...
But why is this such a problem?
Why do we look for other means of forgiveness beyond the offering of Christ?
Guilt
It darkens our hearts with its weight… we feel a debt that feels impossible to pay… or a debt we feel we ought to pay since Christ has done so much
We mean well… but we mean foolishly… we want to do our part, we want to prove ourselves to God… we want Him to be proud of us…
And when we sin… and feel the weight of the offense… we often feel like we can’t go to Him… again… as if the offense has finally reached a point of unforgiveness...
But again, remember last week… you cannot be any less worthy of God’s love and grace than you are now… thus… you can’t be any more worthy… you don’t have a partial amount of God’s love in your life… or a partial amount of the Spirit dwelling within you...
By His grace… His grace… you have all of it.. but we struggle in trusting this truth… the world and the devil are powerful seductive enemies who would like us to believe otherwise...
Shame is another reason we struggle in this...
We’re embarrassed… we know better… or should have known better… and yet we still sinned...
Or the perhaps light exposed some really dark sin…
And before we confess it, before we can earnestly repent of it… we try to clean it up… we try to change ourselves apart from God…
Remember Rom 10.11
11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
And in this letter of Hebrews, we are called to draw near to the Throne of Grace… so that we may receive help in time of need... Heb 4.14-16
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
That is… we are called to bring shame, guilt, and the sin that caused it… all of it to the throne… so that when it pops up… His grace can deal with it… His grace… His love… His work… His power… His Spirit… His intercession… His glory… His mercy… His wisdom… His truth…
Don’t let the devil, nor his demons, nor his false prophets chain you with lies and deceptions in thinking you cannot take such and such sin to Him… it’s too much, it’s too dark, you’ve done it too many times, you enjoyed it too much…
Reject that… go to Him, stay near to Him by staying in the Word… by going to Him in prayer in faith… by His grace...
Why is this though?
Why do we have such privileges with God?
Yes, it’s because of His grace and His love and what He has promised to do and has done and will do...
But what exactly is it about you and I that grants us these blessings?
Identity - who we are...
All of this… is about identity
Think of the New Covenant… the part the author happen to leave out… Jer 31.33
33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
He will be our God and we will be His people… His people - that’s identity
To have been sanctified is to be set apart as God’s people...
To be part of the New Covenant is to be marked as His
To be His… is to be His children, which the Spirit that abides in us testifies of and allows us to cry out Abba, Father (Rom 8)
We get to go to the throne room because of our identity… because the identity we were born with is dead… is no longer… and by faith through the Spirit in accordance to the teaching of Christ, we have been born again, and given a new nature… one that has been perfected and one that is being perfected...
This is why we observe the sacraments of baptism and communion… they’re about identity...
And it is by these means of grace that we are reminded of who we are in light of God’s grace...
We are reminded… that despite how I feel…
Despite what I did or not do...
My identity, is not rooted in that… it is not rooted in something that is subjective or something that is of myself… but in something objective… something outside of myself… Christ, God Himself…
Baptism is a day we can look back on to remind ourselves in moments of doubt
And communion allows us to be reminded not only of our baptism… but the work of Christ upon the cross and who we are because of it...
Thus remembering and proclaiming as well to others and the world… we have been perfected… we have been sanctified…
So, when you trust another offering other than the single offering of Christ— you deny your identity… you cannot eat at two tables… you cannot be baptized by another name…
You cannot identify with the Levitical priesthood as well as the Melchizedekian priesthood… you can’t identify with the Roman Catholic priesthood that, just like the Levitical priesthood, by their works, denies the once for all sacrifice of Christ...
And this why you can’t identify as a Christian and a willful sinner… such as someone who attempts to identify as a gay Christian
You’re either a Christian— full stop. Or your not…
Our identity, our sanctification is not like an Arnold Palmer ice tea… there is no mixing here...
We would think it foolish for people to identify as a Murderous Christian…
“I have the temptation to murder, but I don’t act on it” but it is still who I am..
No, it’s not… you’ve been washed… you’ve died to self… you no longer live… Christ lives in you now… deny it all or none of it… because if you try to walk through the gates of heaven to arrive at the throne of the King with partial loyalty… you’ll never be allowed in… and if you refuse to give it up now… you won’t want to give it up then...
This is hard… so let us not neglect the ordinary means of grace God has blessed us with in this age...
The preaching of His Word
The fellowship of the Saints
The sacraments - baptism and communion
And of course, songs, psalms, and hymns...
We embrace these things because that is what His people do… because He is our God… because we have been sanctified… we have been perfected… by the single offering of Jesus Christ… for all time.