The Death Of Christ: Once For All! - [Hebrews 7:27-28]

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the

Apostle Paul said, But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.

By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her

King. Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Well, one of my favorite things to do is evangelize, and I know it's one of your favorite things to do as well, to tell other people about the good news that the risen

Savior bore the sins of sinners, and that He offers free forgiveness for you to simply believe by faith alone, trusting in the

Lord Jesus. We have good news in the world of bad news. I also love to hear stories about when people evangelize and what they say to other folks.

I had lunch with a pastor on Friday, and he said, I have to tell you the story about your mother,

Carla, and how she began to evangelize my mother. And he said,

Mike, your mom, Carla, was at Omaha Bible Church, and he said, my mother visited, she's

Roman Catholic from Lemonster, Massachusetts, and she was in Omaha. And my mom went up to greet his mom, and my mom welcomed him, and of course, if you knew my mother, she had big hair, everything she did was big.

And she said, oh, welcome to the church, good to have you, and how could I serve you and help you? And by the way, if you were to die tonight and stand before God, and He were to ask you, why should

I let you into heaven, what would you say? And this lady said, well,

I'm a good person, and I go to church and receive the mass and other things. And then my friend said, what your mother then said to my mother offended her for two years before the

Lord brought her to faith. He said, Mike, your mother said, you'll have to do better than that.

And if you'll take your Bibles and turn to Hebrews 7, verse 27, this morning, I want to remind you of a verse that you can use with evangelism, especially with Roman Catholics, and we have the clue, you have to do better than that, because the

Lord Jesus did what we couldn't do. He is the one who offered Himself once for all.

God requires perfection to get into heaven, and you have to perfectly obey the law.

Well, since we've fallen and we are corrupt and sinful, both because of Adam and ourselves, we need a representative, we need a substitute, we need someone else to perfectly keep the law.

We need somebody else to bear our law breaking on the cross and be raised from the dead.

Hear this verse, Hebrews 7, 27, I want you to etch it in your minds as a verse that will help you with evangelism, because it seeks to proclaim and does proclaim the perfect work of Jesus Christ, and how

He doesn't have to be re -slain on the altar every week. He does His work perfectly.

He has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, since He did this once for all when

He offered up Himself. Luther, 15, 17,

He begins, God does this through Luther obviously, begins the Protestant Reformation, and within about two years,

Luther's writings get to France. They make it across the borders and they get into France, and King Francis didn't really care.

As long as people didn't commit treason, as long as people didn't revolt, maybe he could even cause some trouble for the

Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. But there was a day, October 18, 1534, when the

Parisians attended church, and they found over all the churches, and the

Louvre, and many places where there'd be public notices, 14 inch by 10 inch pasted placards in Gothic type, and this was the title of that placard.

Genuine articles on the horrific, great, and unbearable abuses of the papal mass, invented directly contrary to the

Holy Supper of our Lord, Soul Mediator and Soul Savior, Jesus Christ.

They were all over Paris. With one particular verse highlighted, Hebrews 7, 27, the mass was attacked on four counts.

One with Hebrews 7, 27, there's only one sacrifice, and it is impossible to recreate that.

On that placard, the second thing that was attacking the mass, it said there's the real presence of Christ, according to the

Roman Catholics, but Scripture said Christ was with God. Third, the writer said, transubstantiation, converting bread into wine, bread into the actual body, and wine into the blood of Christ was a human invention, and finally, it said communion was a memorial service, not a miracle.

They said that one of these placards made it into the antechamber of the king's bedroom. Public opinion went crazy, and they thought, you know what, let's start rumors.

The rumors are these Protestants are going to burn down the Louvre, they're going to burn down the churches, they're going to massacre people, and within 24 hours,

Parliament said, get those people who did it, and here's the reward. Prisons filled up, and on November 10th, a month and a half later, they began to execute those placard poster people.

King didn't know what to do. King said, you know what, let's have a procession, let's have a parade.

It's fascinating, by the way, I think within the last six months, Gracie, I know I owe you a dollar now, she's been to the

Red Sox parade, and to the Patriots parade. What did this king do?

We need to have a parade, and we're going to parade through the streets of Paris. Let's put the relics and shrines up front, let's put the crown of thorns that was on Jesus' head, allegedly, up there close to the front, but in the center, it won't be the king, in the center, it won't be the queen, in the center, up and lifted high is the host, the blessed sacrament.

And once in a while, let's stop, let's ring the church bells, and let's sing an anthem and a hymn to the host.

They finally ended at Notre Dame, and the king and the queen attended lunch, and the denunciation of the heretics continued.

This is why some people think that the book of Hebrews was at the center of the

Protestant Reformation in France. Of course, Romans was great, but it's centered in the book of Hebrews on the once and for all sacrifice.

So today it's simple. We're going to finish Hebrews chapter 7, verses 27 and 28, and then

I'm going to help you with some evangelistic strategies when it comes to your Roman Catholic friends.

Hebrews chapter 7, verses 27 and 28.

Now last time we looked at verse 26, remember? It's just this wonderful passage about Jesus, this perfect high priest that the

Father has picked for you. Everybody needs a priest. For it was indeed fitting, verse 26, that we should have such a high priest.

And then there's this great description. It's like a list of five wonderful things about the person and work of the

Lord Jesus. The one who needs to stand between you and God. Holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

It's essentially the writer saying, Christian, behold, let me show you your high priest. Let me describe him to you.

Let me show him off. So that you might think, that's exactly right, because everything Jesus is,

I'm not, but need to be in order to get to heaven. So I've got this perfect high priest, this holy high priest, this unstained high priest, separated from sinners high priest, and exalted above the heavens high priest.

Reminds me of Luke. It says at the end of Luke, and he led them out as far as Bethany, lifting up his hands, he blessed them.

And while he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing

God. And here's what the writer wants you to do.

Why would you turn away from such a high priest? Why would you believe in somebody else? And the description of Jesus continues, verse 27.

I read it before, but let's read it again. And you're going to notice all the different points of contrast. People think the book of Hebrews is the book that talks about Jesus, the high priest.

That's true. It's the book that talks about the covenant. That's true. And it's a book of contrast. Here's another one. He has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily.

First for his own sins, remember he's holy and blameless and unstained. And then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

Everywhere you go, there's this contrast. There were lots of priests back in the

Levitical system. How many priests? One. Jesus. They were temporary.

They died. Jesus eternal. They sacrificed for their own sins. Jesus has no sins.

They sacrifice daily. He sacrifices once for all. They sacrifice animals. He sacrifices himself.

You have to take the animal in and capture it and bring it in. And when it doesn't willingly offer itself and put its neck down,

Jesus offers himself up freely for the father's pleasure. Do you notice in your text he has no need?

By the way, it's really need in the Greek. He has no need whatsoever. He never has to sacrifice for himself because he does not sin.

Think about all the words for sin. What's the one we tend to use very often? Do we have any archery people here?

And you're trying to shoot in the center target and you miss the mark. Jesus, when it comes to pleasing

God and obeying God, he never missed the mark. There's the signs that I think most hunters don't like.

They want to hunt in the next field and there's a big placard up there and it says what? No trespassing.

I was going to say not everybody at once, don't all say at once. I'm going to have to buckle down here to get going.

I see your faces and you see mine. No trespassing.

Jesus never trespassed the law of God. He never said, you know, I'm going to have to bring a dove,

I'm going to have to bring a bull, I'm going to have to bring a goat, I'm going to have to bring a Passover lamb for me because I'm sinful.

Never once. And when you look at the Old Testament, Mosaic law, there's all these regulations for what the priest has to do first.

I mean, when I sit there on the front row and I'm getting ready to preach, my normal prayer is,

Lord, help me to be faithful. Help me to deliver the message as I ought to. And Lord, cleanse my heart, cleanse my hands.

I've sinned this week and I want to be a holy vessel for you. Before Jesus preaches, before Jesus does anything, he never has to pray that prayer because he's holy.

Leviticus 4 says, if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, let him offer to the Lord a bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.

But that's not our Lord Jesus. On one hand, they have to do this all the time.

On the other hand, notice the text, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. The perfect sacrifice, the sinless sacrifice, the sacrifice that is once for all time.

Offered up himself. That's the word for offer up on an altar. If there was an altar here and there's not because Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead, we bring the things and we put them up on the altar.

I'm offering something on the altar. That's the word here. Once for all. Do you notice in verse 12 of the next chapter, you hear this refrain that's going to go throughout the rest of the book.

Hebrews 9, 12. He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

And it goes on in chapter 10, does it not? Chapter 10, verse 10. And by that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

But when Christ had offered for all time, a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down with the right hand of God, waiting for the time until his enemy should be made a footstool for his feet.

For by a single offering, he has perfected for all time. Those who are being sanctified.

True or false. Jesus's death was definitive. True or false. Jesus's death was final.

The answer is true and true. Now some people, when they look at this verse, they go, wait a second.

Offer sacrifices daily. Go back to Hebrews 7, 27. What do you mean? This is all about the day of atonement.

And they only had to offer sacrifice once on the day of atonement. Maybe the writer of Hebrews didn't really understand the day of atonement.

That doesn't make any sense. He understands the day of atonement. I think this is just a generalization.

This is an overview. This is kind of a combining and effusing. The Old Testament priest, daily sacrifices.

Yes, once on the day of atonement, but on the other days, day after day after day after day. We might say it like this.

Day in and day out, they sacrificed. But the opposite is true for Jesus. One sacrifice and he's done.

Everybody daily Jesus once and done because he's sinless and he's superior and it's once for all when he offers up himself, he's different.

The same language is used in first Peter 2, 24. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

Now, friends, if Jesus dies once for all, does that make the old priesthood ongoing or obsolete?

We know the answer to that question. The uniqueness of Christ's death, the singularity of Christ's death, the sufficiency of Christ's death once and for all.

Spurgeon writes, Oh, this makes the sacrifice of Christ so blessed and glorious. They drag the bullocks and they drove the sheep to the altar.

They bound the calves with cords, even with cords to the altar's horn, but not so with Christ of God.

None did compel him to die. He laid down his life voluntarily for he had to lay it down and take it up again.

So far as Christ was himself alone concerned, there was no necessity that he should die. He was infinitely glorious and blessed.

He offered up himself, but not for himself. Then for whom did he die? For men, sinful men.

Jesus bears the sins of many. This is prophesied back in Isaiah as a result of the anguish of his soul.

He will see it and be satisfied by his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant will justify the many.

He will bear their iniquities. And then there's a concluding statement in verse 28.

This is kind of summarizing the contrast between the old covenant and the new, the old priest and the high priest.

For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priest. Where was that law given Sinai, Exodus and Leviticus.

But the word of oath, when was that given centuries later, Psalm 110 with David, which came later than the law appoints a son who has been made perfect forever.

What a great summary. What a great ending to that chapter.

The perfect son will never change glorified, perfect mediator. Now I have a question for you when it comes to Aaronic priests and high priests.

When you meet your friend who's a Roman Catholic or a loved one, do you first say to yourself, you know what?

We all believe in the same God, so I just have to let everything lie or do you say, you know what?

They teach a certain gospel. We teach a certain gospel. They both can't be true.

One of us has to be wrong. I hope you say that every time

I think of Roman Catholics, I think of my grandmother and my opportunities I had to evangelize her.

This verse is going to help you in verse 27, not bash Roman Catholics, but you need to tell them the truth because they are stuck in a system, by the way, friends in a system that looks exactly like the

Old Testament priesthood. There's no other system in all the world that looks so similar to the

Levitical system with bells and smells and ornate garments and robes and singing and genuflection.

The old view of the Old Testament looks exactly like Rome. Hebrews is a perfect template for evangelizing people in a priestly system, true or false?

The answer has to be true. But here's the thing, we live in a day where we are afraid to offend people.

It is the mortal sin. It is the venial sin. It is a sin of all sins to offend other people.

And I have a question for you. What was the attitude of the writer of Hebrews, this inspired book, when it comes to offending the

Jewish people with their system? Did he offend them? Do you think they were offended when he said this entire structure is gone?

Jesus is the only way. Everything you've said and done and held on to and trusted for eternal life, it's worthless.

People say, well, you know what, don't bash people. You know what they really mean? Here's what they mean.

They mean this. Shut your mouth. Don't tell the truth. Speak the truth in love still means speaking the truth.

Unless you think the Reformation was a mistake and the people who were enslaved to offer Jesus up weakly on the sacrifice of the altar are right, then

I want you to tell your friends the truth. You don't have to be mean about it, but you have to tell them the truth.

And friends, we live in a place where the fields are white for harvest. 80 % of those people out there have a

Roman Catholic background. They don't practice regularly, but if you push them, they would say, I'm a Roman Catholic.

The writer in the book of Hebrews was not afraid to tell the truth and use scripture to back up and give people hope.

Now, I probably shouldn't have done it this way, but I remember with my grandmother, I wrote her a 14 -page letter and talked about the good news of the gospel and simple faith and trusting.

When she got it, she did say, and this convicted me, she said, when it was 14 pages,

I knew it was about religion. I should have wrote a 14 -page love letter because I love grandma and she was a dear lady and a sweet lady, but I wanted to tell her the truth.

Our problem today is the world is so secular that what do we end up saying? Listen, Catholics are against abortion.

So are we. Catholics are wanting to help the poor. So are we. Catholics are wanting to help homeless people.

So are we. Catholics are against homosexuals in terms of lifestyle and behavior.

So are we. So let's get together. There's no one else to get together with, but we can't do that.

Is the sacrifice of the mass true? Now, I read an article this week by Father William Saunders, a

Roman Catholic, is the mass really a sacrifice? And I found this very insightful. The Roman Catholic writer writes, a friend of mine who belongs to an evangelical church was asking me about the mass.

She read a quote from Hebrew 727, which seemed to say that the mass could not be a sacrifice.

Can you help me in this matter? And here's what that father said.

To isolate these verses from the rest of sacred scripture and simply take them for face value would lead one to conclude that there could be no other sacrifice.

Christ has sacrificed himself. It is over and done with. And that is it. Period. Such a view is myopic, to say the least, except the

Council of Trent says the victim is one and the same. The same now offers through the ministry of priest and then offered himself on the cross.

Only the manner of offering is different. In this divine sacrifice, which is celebrated in the mass, the same

Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner.

Friends, that's just slavery. The thing that you can offer your Roman Catholic friends the most and loved ones is, do you know you can be forgiven?

Do you know you can have eternal life to grant them assurance? Catholic catechism says the

Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it makes present the sacrifice of the cross. That is not true.

Heidberg catechism question. What difference is there between the Lord's Supper and the pope is pope is mass answer.

The Lord's Supper testifies to us that we have full forgiveness of all our sins by the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which he himself once accomplished on the cross.

And that by the Holy Spirit, we are engrafted into Christ who with his true body is now in heaven at the right hand of the father and is there to be worshiped.

But the mass teaches that the living and the dead do not have forgiveness of sins through the suffering of Christ, unless Christ is still offered daily by them by the priest and that Christ is bodily under the form of bread and wine and therefore to be worshiped in them.

And thus the mass at bottom is nothing else than the denial of the one sacrifice and passion of Jesus Christ and an accursed idolatry.

Reference number one, Hebrews 727. He did this once for all when he offered up himself.

Christian friend, why don't you tell your Roman Catholic loved one and friends that Jesus Christ death was sufficient to save them?

Why don't you tell them that Jesus Christ saves sinners completely? Why don't you tell them that they don't need anything in their system that would signal to them that Jesus Christ wasn't perfect in his death?

What do I mean by that? If Christ's death was perfect and sufficient and once for all, do you need penance?

If Christ's death was perfect, once for all offered up himself, do you need purgatory?

Roman Catholic doctrine says, quote, from their source, all who die in God's grace and friendship but still imperfectly purified are indeed assured of their eternal salvation.

But after death, they undergo purification so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

I believe there's a Satan who blinds people because a simple reading of scripture would make you realize that Jesus purges us from all our sins.

Roman Catholic Catechism 1031, the church gives the name purgatory to this final purification of the elect which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.

Friends, for me to live as Christ and to die as what? Cain, absent from the body.

Vatican Council 2, the doctrine of purgatory clearly demonstrates that even when the guilt of sin has been taken away, the punishment for it or the consequences of it may remain to be expiated or cleansed.

In fact, in purgatory, the souls of those who died in the charity of God and truly repentant, but who have not been made satisfaction with adequate penance for their sins and omissions.

Friends, you're going to have to do better than that. I mean, we see an animal caught in a trap and we want to relieve its problem.

This is not a physical trap. This is a mental trap, a doctrinal trap. Friends, the

Catholic Jesus needs penance. The Catholic Jesus needs purgatory.

The Catholic Jesus needs indulgences. Vatican Council 2, page 70, for God's only begotten son has won a treasure for the militant church.

He has entrusted it to the blessed Peter, the king bearer of heaven, and to his successors who are

Christ's vicars on earth so that they may distribute it to the faithful for their salvation. Then if you're able to distribute all of it, friends, it's not good news to think you need indulgences and penance and purgatory.

It is good news to think, you know what? He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

Colossians chapter 2, verse 13. That's the Jesus you ought to talk about. Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of the decrees against us and which was hostile to us.

You say, well, you're certainly not going to make any friends that way, Mike. I'm not trying to be rude, but I'm not trying to make friends.

I have a commission from God. And when you meet someone and you say, you know what, how do you think you're going to get to heaven?

And if it's anything but, I'm just trusting, even though my faith might be weak, the object of my faith is strong,

I'm just trusting in what Jesus said, his promises, his love for me and what he did.

And he demonstrated that while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me. And I'm trusting in that risen savior. I'm all in when it comes to that.

And if you say anything less than I'm going to start telling you about that particular Jesus. Not because I need to lead more people to the

Lord and put a tick mark in the front of my Bible, but because you, my friend, are going to die one day and stand before God.

And it's going to be a nuclear winter unless you're covered by the asbestos, perfect righteousness of Christ Jesus.

Council of Trent, Canon 16, Roman Catholic doctrine, quote, if anyone says that he will for certain with an absolute and infallible certainty have the great gift of perseverance even to the end, let him be anathema.

And that's exactly what happens. If you want to keep people working, then you put them in the system. Because if you just say, rest in Jesus, trust in Jesus, then you might go off the rails.

When you think of your Roman Catholic friends, I hope you go straight to Hebrews 27. Maybe if you're an airline pilot, you think 727.

That's where I go. 727. He did this once for all when he offered up himself. And I like to just take my

Bible and spin it around and say, what does Hebrews 727 say? They say it. And then I say, what does that mean, friend?

In addition to this chapter, I think you can help your Roman Catholic friend with the work of Jesus, not just as sacrifice, but the work as mediator.

Go back to verse 25, please, 725. Hebrews 727 will help you with the death of Christ and talking about his once for all satisfaction definitive final death.

No recreation on the mass. And then also this one. What do priests do? They sacrifice and pray.

Where do you think Satan attacks the Roman Catholic Church? The sacrifice and mediation. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for us, for them.

He intercedes. You don't have to beg for God's approval,

Christian, because you have the Son. He's your mediator. He's such a great mediator.

Here's my question that I would ask my Roman Catholic friend. Do you need any other intercessor?

Is there another intercessor that you need? If they said, yes, I need the Holy Spirit, Romans 8. Likewise, the

Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, for we do not know what to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

We need that intercessor. And I would say, yes, that's true. But Jesus's death was perfect.

You don't need to add. Jesus's prayer life is perfect. You don't need to add. You say, well, they would never add to that.

Friends, are you kidding me? Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, what's the next phrase?

Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. This is not the right

Jesus, because the right Jesus makes prayers for you. You don't need other intercessors. Remember what

I always talk about. Thrice holy God, we're sinful. We need a perfect mediator, because if that mediator isn't perfect, then he, or in this particular case, she will need a mediator.

Morning consecration to Mary, my Queen, my Mother, I offer myself entirely to thee. And to show my devotion to thee,

I offer thee this day my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my whole being without reserve.

Wherefore, good Mother, as I am thine own, keep me, guard me as thy property and possession.

Jesus lives to make intercession. I don't need this kind of prayer. She can't help, she can't hear. If she could hear, she would say, look to the

Lord Jesus Christ and be saved like I was. Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

To thee we do cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in the valley of tears.

Turn then, most gracious Advocate, capital A for Mary, turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us.

And after this our exile, show us under the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O Clement, O loving,

O sweet Virgin Mary, pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of God.

Friends, doesn't your heart break when you think people are enslaved to that system? Your heart ought to break.

And they are never going to become unenslaved unless someone like you, with a quiver in their voice, says, let me tell you the truth.

And you might just offend them. That exactly could be true. Like my mother's friend, she was offended for two years before the

Lord saved her. O Queen of Heaven, I mean, if you met somebody, you saw someone in the street praying this, would you go, they're in the kingdom, they're good.

O Queen of Heaven, rejoice, Alleluia, for whom thou dost merit to bear. Alleluia, hath arisen as he said.

Alleluia, pray for us to God. Alleluia. I would think to myself, now morally,

I was much more wicked. And I'm the most sinful person I know.

But this sinner here is enslaved, and they need to be set free by the truth. Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored by your help, or sought your intercession, was left unaided.

Friends, is Jesus' intercession enough for you? Two weeks ago,

Pope Francis made the news on Twitter. You know, there's always these people that influence people.

He named Mary, Pope Francis did, the Influencer of God.

And he wrote, with her, yes, Mary became the most influential woman in history.

Without social networks, she became the first influencer, the Influencer of God. You know, if the father won't, you know, maybe the son, he's angry, and so he better have the mom tell

Jesus something. It wasn't that long ago, the

Archbishop of Boston said, we beg the prayers of Mary, whom we hail as bearer of God, the mother of God.

We beg the prayers of Peter, and Andrew, and John, and all the apostles. We beg the prayers of all the saints of God, as we ask that our

Easter celebration today will raise us up. Friends, I want to show you 727.

He's able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

I know it makes sense in a works -based system to have some more works to do, I get it. I know in a works -based system, you need more, and more, and more, and more, and more grace.

One writer said, quote, that's why most of the prayers that Roman Catholics are encouraged to make are not to the father or Jesus, but to the saints, and particularly

Mary. For every one prayer directed to the father, some say that Catholics are directed to pray 10

Hail Marys. That's a ratio of 10 to 1. Christian, you have good news for your friends.

Think about maybe in your past. You're living your life, and you're going along your merry way. You've got just enough religion kind of for inoculation, and you show up for Christmas and Easter services, and a few other things.

I mean, you're not a pagan, of course, you don't, you won't worship statues. And so everything's fine, and somebody comes along into your life, and preaches the

Gospel to you. If you could, wouldn't you like to go say thank you to that person? I'm driving on Sunset Boulevard to church, and the only reason

I was going to go to church in those days, A, Dad was dying, and B, I thought, you know what, I think the kind of girl

I want to meet should probably go to church. So I'm there for the girls, and my conscience.

Hey, by the way, it worked. Met Kim. Just kidding. That was in spite of all that. And we're giving kind of testimonies on Sunset Boulevard, on the way to this church, and the guy sitting next to me said, you're a

Christian? I just told him, he knows what I do, he knows how I live, and he goes, you're a Christian? I wanted to punch him in the face.

He's listening. I wanted to just take my hand and go, you know what, my fist isn't good enough for you.

It's a backhand in the face, you fool. I believe in Jesus, of course. But he knew, you know what, fornicators, idolaters, unrighteous people will not inherit the

Kingdom of God. And he knew what I did, and what I was, and what I was engaging in. And so he said, how can you call yourself a

Christian? Friends, if I could only go back and meet that man. I would love to say thank you that you had enough courage to confront me in my sins so that God might convict me, and I might have to go back to the

Scriptures and study and find out that Jesus is a great Savior for sinners, and He makes great intercession.

Christian, you ought to meet that person and say, you know what, this is going to cost me. And by the way, I didn't say do it on work time.

You get paid to work. Well, I got kicked out of my job because I was evangelizing, and I got kicked out for righteousness sake.

No, you got kicked out because you were stupid. You don't get paid to evangelize. I'm the only one in this room besides Steve that gets paid to evangelize.

Remember that old joke? I get paid to be good, and you're good for nothing. But you've got to tell people the truth.

The writer of Hebrews knew he was going to be taking a finger and sticking it right in their eye because at the heart of the system was the

Levitical priesthood. You don't do this over and over and over and over and over and over and over. It doesn't work.

Prove by you keep doing it over and over and over. If I went to a Roman Catholic Mass, I'd think, why are they doing that again?

It doesn't work. They're going to do it week after week after week. Friends, Jesus died once for all.

He offered up Himself. He's sufficient. He's adequate. And if you trust in Him, no indulgences, no penance, no purgatory, no sacraments, no anything but the hope of eternal life.

You don't need Mary. You don't need other sinful humans to ask God. God by nature is generous and makes intercession and loves to hear

His people. But I hear myself as I'm talking, and I know what the world would say.

The world would say, bigot, narrow -minded, causing problems. I know what religion would say.

Religion would say, listen, Catholics and Lutherans quite a while ago said the Reformation was a big farce.

We're all on the same team. I know what some of you might say. You know what? I brought a

Roman Catholic friend today, and then now this. Either the

Catholics are right, and you're all damned. Or Hebrew 7 is right, and all you who trust in Christ get to go to heaven.

Don't you want other people to go to heaven? Don't you want other people to have free grace? As much as it stung when that guy said to me, how can you call yourself a

Christian? The freedom that I had, the sense of peace that I had in my heart when

I knew I had peace with God. Could there be a better feeling to think, you know what, God?

In eternity past, you chose me. And in time, Jesus died for me. He lived for me. He was raised from the dead.

Your Spirit made me alive, and I get to go to heaven. I deserve hell. I'm going to heaven based on the work of another.

Then that other one gets praise and honor and thanks. If the other one doesn't quite make it, without the prayers of Mary, to whom do

I give worship? Half Jesus and half Mary? Well, the answer is ten times Mary and one Jesus, but you get the point.

He did this once for all when he offered up himself. The old systems of recurring sacrifices are gone.

The old system of weakness of high priest are gone. If I met a

Roman Catholic today, I would say, friend, you might not be as sinful as I am, but I know you sin, and you're going to have to stand before God one day.

Let me tell you about this Jesus who's a representative, who's a high priest. I mean, for many of us, we think, you know what, we were in religions with a bunch of priests and we thought, you know what, now that I'm a

Christian, I don't want any of that priest talk. I go straight to God. Well, yes and no.

You don't want any human priest talk, sinful priest talk, but you don't go straight to God. You never can approach

God the Father without your priest Jesus, and he says, approach through me, I've done the work. What makes heaven heaven is you're in the presence of God with a mediator.

What makes hell hell is in your presence of God without a mediator. John Akerberg said, anyone who compares the gospel of Roman Catholicism with the gospel of Scripture must conclude there can be no agreement between Evangelicals and Catholics.

Here's the great news, friends. I don't have to tell a Roman Catholic that there's a

God. I don't have to tell a Catholic that there's a triune God. I don't have to tell a Catholic Jesus is fully

God. I don't have to tell a Catholic that he's been raised from the dead. I don't have to tell a Catholic that the Bible's true. But where the

Catholics get it wrong, it's the book of Galatians. The book of Galatians, these people knew about Jesus, they knew about his merits, they knew about his death, burial, resurrection, but they thought they received the gifts through faith plus circumcision.

And the Roman Catholics are just the same except they believe in all the right stuff about Jesus and God and they believe that he is received by faith plus baptism and the other six sacraments.

Jesus is enough. He intercedes and he's offered once for all. And Christian, he's done that for you.

Therefore, don't you want other people to receive that blessing as well? Then you're going to have to tell them, because faith comes by hearing.

Let's pray. Father in heaven, I just pray, I pray that even if there's a

Roman Catholic here today mad, I pray that they go home and search the scriptures to see if these things are true.

I pray for Christians that are here today, would you give them many opportunities to meet people who are enslaved to a system?

They don't know anything about Jesus, they hardly know anything about the Bible. Would you help us tell them about a

God who loves sinners? About a God who justifies ungodly? About a God who demonstrates his own love for us that while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us? About a God who could just damn people, but he sent his own son to die the death that they deserved?

What kind of love is that? What a great God you are. Help us to open our mouths. Father, for me,

I love to read biographies about great preachers. I admire them, courageous men and women of God, but Father, I'd like to be one, not a great man, but just a man who opens my mouth like they did, and I pray for our congregation that the same would happen.

Father, I pray that in the next few months we'd see new people here at the church who have been evangelized by our dear people.

We'd see baptisms. People saying, I used to be ensnared to a Jesus that couldn't save and now I worship the once for all, offered up Jesus who makes intercession for me.

Father, would you do that? I pray this in Jesus' name. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.