689 Heb.10.1-18 Forgiveness is Complete
Notes
Transcript
- The older we get, the more we don't want people to remind us of our age
- “You'll be hitting “X amount” next birthday, won't you?
- “Please don't remind me”, we say!
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- When we have let people down & even sinned against God & others, we don't like to be reminded of what we have said & done
- “I would rather forget that that ever happened”, we would say
- Or, “You would have to bring that up, wouldn't you”!
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- The last couple of weeks, we have been looking into the conscience & how much a part it plays in our lives
- The critical issue concerning the conscience is how it makes us feel
- The conscience can convict of sin; it can give the sense of praise & of “well done” when we have done something good
- But troubling of all, it allows us to see how distant we are from God because of our sin problem
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- The conscience needed a cleaning work done that was so superior in nature, that it convinces the troubled, but powerful conscience, that past sins could be remembered no more
Q. What a great blessing that is – to know that the sacrifice Jesus made for you & me, can truly cleanse & wipe away the guilt of sin
- The mature Christian knows, however, that this is only applicable to the repentant Christian – the person who loves God & hates their sin
1. A Reminder of Sins (v.1-4)
1. A Reminder of Sins (v.1-4)
- As I have said, we don't like to be reminded of previous failures
- It can be sometimes helpful for the future, however, as a warning not to go down that path again
- And yes, often we are still left with consequences!
- But being reminded of past sins, tends to reinforce the great difficulty we have in approaching God
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- This message today, reinforces the truth of the fact that God remembers our sins no more
- It doesn't say God forgets as if He's been around too long to be capable of remembering, but that He has a settled position in which He does not hold our sins against us
- As far as He is concerned, offences we commit against Himself & others are remitted through the death of Jesus
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- There are 3 points made in this section to demonstrate the inadequacy of the Law
- The Law, of course, governed the people's relationship with God & that included all the instructions about the tabernacle, the priests, the sacrifices, offerings etc.
1. The Law is but a shadow of the reality
- The law, along with the Tabernacle & Temple were a means to an end
- They are not eternal; they are like outdated software that had it purpose for the time, but has been superseded & has, hence, become obsolete
- These were temporary measures teaching us & preparing us for the much better that was to come which is Jesus
Heb 8:5 —5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”
- The Tabernacle was merely a pattern of what He was ultimately going to do in Jesus
2. The nature of the repeated offerings of animals says that they were not good enough to make us right with God
- I mean if you have to do it again & again & again, it's not perfect!
- Note v.1 “it can never...make perfect those who draw near”
Q. Those who draw near? – who are those who draw near?
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- It is those who desire God – those who desire to love Him with heart, mind, soul & strength
- For these, He has made provision - “for those who draw near” - but for those who have no interest in responding, to the God who created them, all that is left is for them to be enemies with God
Mt 12:30 —30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
- The sense is that we are not free agents
- Being our creator gives God certain rights over us
- We talk about intellectual & property copyrights all the time
- About who owns this & who owns that
- There was a big lawsuit between Samsung & Apple over phone technology & who invented it &, therefore, has the exclusive right to it
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- If God be our creator, then how much more right does He have over us
Q. This being the case, does He not have an exclusive right over what is His possession?
- We have, for so long, been accustomed to God letting us live the way we chose
- We live for ourselves, we hurt people, do things that are not right, say things that are not fair
- We learn how wrong this is, not just by God telling us, but by the treatment we have experienced, in the past, from others
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- This provision from God, therefore, is for those who desire to draw near
- Who recognise that God is their creator & that they desire to have that relationship with Him
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3. Repeated offerings serve as a reminder that sins had not been fully removed
- If anything, the fact that you have a birthday every year serves to remind you only that you are now a year older than you were before
- It doesn't make us feel any younger or better
Nu 5:15 —15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest and bring the offering required of her, a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
- Likewise, constant sacrifices just caused the people to be reminded that their sins were not fully dealt with & that they were never sure that they could approach God at any particular time
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- Of course, to an observant Jew under the Old Covenant, the special once a year “Day of Atonement” was an annual removal of sins, but the writer of Hebrews points out that it was an annual reminder that the problem was still with them
2. A Body Offered to Make Us Right with God (v.5-10)
2. A Body Offered to Make Us Right with God (v.5-10)
An animal welfare group has filed a US lawsuit claiming a selfie snapping monkey owns the intellectual rights to its famous photo and not the British wildlife photographer who published it. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are suing on behalf of Naruto, a six-year-old macaque from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.
"Our argument is simple: U.S. copyright law doesn't prohibit an animal from owning a copyright, and since Naruto took the photo, he owns the copyright, as any human would," a statement from PETA said.
"If this lawsuit succeeds, it will be the first time that a non-human animal is declared the owner of property (the copyright of the 'monkey selfie'), rather than being declared a piece of property.
"It will also be the first time that a right is extended to a non-human animal beyond just the mere basic necessities of food, shelter, water, and veterinary care. In our view, it is high time."
The photographer, Slater, has previously disputed any claims against his ownership of copyright for the images. "The facts, are that I was the intellect behind the photos, I set the whole thing up," he said to “The Guardian”.
"A monkey only pressed a button of a camera set up on a tripod – a tripod I positioned and held throughout the shoot."
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- The message that runs through the entire Old & New Testament is that there is an inherent distinction between mankind & the animals of the world
- No, it's not that humans have souls and animals don't
- The difference is stated in Genesis
Ge 1:26 —26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
- The intellectual & property copyright owner of the whole universe has decreed & declared the facts in this matter
- Human beings are made in His image & likeness unlike that of the animal world – we are not just animals
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- The point is, there is something inherently special about human beings
- Animal sacrifices could not be to the standard which would permit the scales of justice to be brought back into balance
- For starters, animals cannot have a relationship with God in the sense of that shared image
- However, we find that Jesus came with a relationship of obedience to the Father's will
- The very thing that had alluded Man, Jesus fulfilled
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- You see, God has not desired religiosity
- He is not interested in people just going through religious motions without some sense of the love of God in his or her heart
Heb 10:5–7 —5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ”
- I think it was fair to say that some men in the past thought that they only had to provide financially & materially for their wives & that should be enough
- They struggled to be involved with them emotionally and romantically
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- As good as that is, to be a provider, for many women it was not what life & marriage was about
- In the sense that they were living a life without that intimate love that should come with a marriage
- It was too easy for the guy to love her in his frame of reference rather than hers
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- I'm not wanting to put the fellas down here – it is also true that some women have not given the respect due to their husbands & have also failed to understand how to love him in his frame of reference
- But my point is the same – God is looking for people to love Him in His frame of reference
- Not just to see Him as a life assurance policy; or as the head of a social, friendship club; OR even a “let's do good together”, “let's feel good about ourselves” club
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- The church is about a people who love God with heart, soul, mind & strength
- Now we don't always do that as we should – but that is our target – that is our frame of reference – that ought to be our desire!
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- This is not a new thing, even in the OT we find the emphasis of a right heart & spirit toward the Lord
- Last week I quoted from Ps. 51 – going further, David says…
Ps 51:16–17 —16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
- He understood God's frame of reference
- He understood that to know God is to know Him relationally like a father to son & mother to daughter
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- The issue here is that Jesus presented Himself to God as One who perfectly sought to do His will
- In spite of all the blood sacrifices of slaughtered animals, nothing could compare to the Son of God offering up His life to God to pay that ransom for our sins
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- This, the writer of Hebrews brings out in a quote from Ps. 40:6-8
- He is using the Greek version so it will be a little different if you go looking for it in the Psalms of your Bible
- The OT was written in Hebrew, but during the 1st Century, Greek was the common language throughout the known world thanks to Alexander the Great
- So what better way to communicate with the people than to use the version most common to them which was the Greek version of the OT
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- Let's just look at the kernel of this quote from Ps. 40
Heb 10:5–7 —5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ”
- Here, the speaker is Christ speaking through the great King & prophet, David
- A body prepared for Me suggests the pre-existent Jesus who came into the world
- In His prayer to God for His disciples Jesus said...
Jn 17:5 —5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
- The atonement (the cross) explains the incarnation (His birth)
- His sacrifice explains the reason He became man
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- Jesus may have been born of a woman, but Scripture speaks to the fact that He pre-existed
- We all had no existence prior to our birth, but Jesus has come from God
- He came to earth & was born a man – both God & man; both eternal & flesh
- “A body have you prepared for Me” He says
- And then, “I have come to do your will O God”
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- The OT sacrifices of bulls & goats are set aside for what truly will remain – the offering of God's Servant-Son who in perfect obedience allowed Himself to die & become a ransom for sins
- It was a sacrifice utterly acceptable to God & it balanced the scales, of all the injustices; of all the disobedience; of all the defiance & waywardness of men & women
Ro 8:3 —3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh…
- And speaking of a person who has turned to Christ
Ro 8:34 —34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
- John Bunyan (17th C. & famous writer of “Pilgrims Progress”) expresses God's position towards those in Christ in this anecdote...
“Sinner, do you think that because of your sins and infirmities I cannot save your soul, but behold my Son is by me, and upon him I look, and not on you, and will deal with you accordingly as I am pleased with Him”.
3. Enemies Conquered (v.11-13)
3. Enemies Conquered (v.11-13)
- I noticed the lyrics in this reggae song called “Wrong Side of the Law”
Caught up on the wrong side of the law
Got caught, got caught, got caught
Caught up on the wrong side of the law
- There's a man who was on the “wrong side of the law”
Q. What does that mean, however?
- It means that you have done the wrong thing & you are in deep trouble with the enforcers of the law
- We know only too well, don't we, that the law enforcers can be either on our side or against us
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- This also holds true with God as well
- The writer of Hebrews has been saying that the OT system of tabernacle/temple & animal sacrifices are finished
- If you turn back to what is finished, then likewise he says, you're finished!
- That if you leave the faith in Jesus & go back to the temple (Judaism), you go back to being a part of that nation who killed Christ
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- That would come as quite a shock considering the OT Temple is what God had instructed Moses to build
- But to set aside Jesus for the temple is an unforgiving business
- You cannot have God with temple; You cannot have Jesus plus temple – that time has been fulfilled & it is time to move on ONLY with Jesus
- And if they don't?
Heb 10:26–27 —26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
- That is what happens if these Christians turn from Christ to temple
Q. But what about today? The temple is not is view because it doesn't exist anymore!
- No one here can be seriously challenged about sacrifices at the temple
- But it does say so very much about Jesus & forgiveness because through Jesus, forgiveness is a reality for all nations, not just Jews
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- The same stark reality of Jews rejecting Jesus is the same for other nations who reject Him
- I'm reminded that one of Jesus' most challenging statements are not toward those who are hostile toward Him, but to those who are of a mind to either take Him or leave Him
- The lukewarm, the laissez faire, the nonchalant
Mt 10:14–15 —14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
- A greater time has come – the time of Christ - & therefore a greater responsibility to respond to what God is doing
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- We live in a time where grace is available, but like all “good deals” they do not last forever
- A time is coming when God will close this chapter & open a glorious new one & only those who attach themselves to Jesus will carry over into that new chapter
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- Jesus sat down at the right hand of God waiting for His enemies to made a footstool for His feet
Q. Do you realise that the high priest's duties are always carried out on his feet?
- But Jesus sat down at the right hand of God – having finished the work set out before Him
Q. Will Jesus own your name on that day of judgement?
4. I Will Remember Their Sins No More (v.14-18)
- We are coming into a time of the year when the bugs are beginning to hatch & will be out on the roads in full force – splat, splat, splat!
- Don't you just love it after washing your car & getting back on the road you get hammered by bugs splatting all over the front of the car – And how hard are they to clean off!
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- Imagine all those bugs are the sins & offences that we have committed against God & against our fellow man
- Imagine those bugs plaguing the conscience as they hit the mind & memory
- No doubt, some might have bugs so thick you can hardly see through the windscreen
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- But God says that with the establishment of the NC, that He will…
Heb 10:17 “...remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
- That Jesus' died for us means that God will wipe our slate clean
- As I mentioned earlier, “to forget” is not the same as “to remember no more” although, ultimately, there is the same outcome
- Through the offering of Jesus once for all time, God will not hold our sin against us
- He doesn't have a memory tool that erases His memory of them – the point is that before the law giver, we have been acquitted – what has been pardoned is not remembered or brought up again!
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- Now this is not just the writer of the Hebrews position
- From Scripture is the prophetic word - “the Holy Spirit bears witness” is the same as saying the Scripture says…
- The Holy Spirit is the author of Scripture and it prophesies of a coming day when God will…
Heb 10:16-17 “...put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” AND “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
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- This is quoted from Jeremiah who prophesied some 600 yrs prior to the death of Jesus & the writing of the book of Hebrews
- He spoke of a NC that God would bring about – it would be revolutionary – so much more superior to the old
- It would not only involve the assurance that past sins & iniquities would be eternally blotted out from God's record, but also the gift of an internal power & will, to stay true to God
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- A somewhat archaic word, but this is what is meant by “sanctified”
Heb 10:14 —14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
- Here, to be “sanctified” is to be made right with God & to be kept right with God
Q. How do we get to be “kept right” with God in the on-going sense?
- Firstly, by the ongoing blessing of the single offering of Jesus
- Secondly, God says by putting “My laws on their hearts” & “writing them on their minds”
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- We need to realise the “copyright” God has on us
- That copyright involved our use to Him in such a way as described by the ethical & moral teaching of the Law of Moses
- But, by golly, there was no way that we could be of any use to God by simply knowing what was required of us
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- The law was merely external – it only gave us the standard – it could never help us to reach that standard
- But now through Jesus the external has become internal
- The desire to keep to God's will as Jesus had done will be there because it will be in our hearts & on our mind
Eph 1:3–4 —3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
- We can stay loyal to Jesus because His once for all sacrifice has made us right with God forever & we are guaranteed by that perfect sacrifice that He will remember our sins no more
Conclusion
Conclusion
- The question I ask you this morning is this: “where do you stand” in all this?
Q. Do you have a desire to know God; be forgiven by God; to walk with God?
- If you do, then respond to Him today
- There will be an inner turmoil if you do – the old life of sin will not want you to turn to Jesus
- It will be fighting against any desire of you coming to the Lord
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- Satan is also a spirit that is in rebellion to God & will do his utmost to hinder you from going God's way
- But with God's help, you can break the hold of sin & Satan & start to claim back the life that God had always desired for you to have