Book of Hebrews - Ch. 10

Hebrews Chapter 10: The Superiority of Christ’s Sacrifice

I've been holding back on the test. So I thought we just you know Tonight instead of going second session at the break. We'll take the exam. Is that all right? Got visitors looking saying what what's he what what is what is what's what's going on here Hebrews?

I Thought for a while we weren't going to get through it. And of course there's so much in this book as you see and as you know. And you have known there it's such a tremendous book and probably we could take any chapter.

I mean I couldn't it take me months. But I'm sure that if we wanted to do so we could take one chapter and all the truths in one chapter and spend a Week on that one chapter with the truths that are in there, you know the time we got it.

We all studied it very carefully and studied it word for word. But I find that it has been interesting. It really has been a an exciting and blessing to me to Be able to break down some of the words with you and to share some of the thoughts and you've been so gracious.

You've been faithful. You've been here. Most have been here who have been coming have been here every night and That's a real encouragement to me not because I am here. But it indicates to me that you do love the word and you do love your church and you want to be a part of What the Lord is doing.

Obviously some I've had to work and couldn't be here every night. Some are sick and can't be here. And so for what all those reasons are I'm grateful you're here because if you hadn't been here Then we wouldn't have been able to come would we.

I mean you got to have somebody to teach or you can't teach. Then you just have to learn and I don't like to learn. I'd rather teach them learn. Had you rather tell everybody else how to do it, you know.

Then you have to worry about doing it yourself. But there was a tape that was found and we don't know who it belongs to. We don't know where it belongs to me and where I dropped it or where you dropped it but if you did get one of the tapes of my testimony and You dropped it.

Well, then we have it here. So you claim that if you don't I'll sell it again, you know. Well, that'd be neat wouldn't it. What you don't know is they have metal in them and I have magnets all over out there as you Go out.

They just pluck them out of your pocket, you know, and I'll say you the say I see you probably buy this take three times. I don't know it. And then for those of you that are visiting with us that if you want to receive the mission magazine the free Missionary magazine of the chosen people the American Board of Missions to the Jews.

You'll find these little Folders out on the table out back if you'll just stop off after the service and look through it and just Open it up and there's a place where you can tear it off and check that top one.

I would enjoy receiving the chosen people your free missionary magazine and print your name and address and zip code and just leave it lying there then I'll take that and send that to New York with the rest of them from the church and You'll be again receiving over the next year.

You'll receive a Complimentary subscription from me to you from the chosen people magazine, which is the media arm of the American Board of Missions to the Jews which I've said early is the oldest and largest Jewish mission work in the world and so you'll want to be a part of that and Accept that I'm sure and it's an encouragement having your home and it keeps you up to date on what's going around.

Christ’s Once-for-All Sacrifice and the End of Repeated Offerings

Well, where are we in Hebrews? Ten right ten tomorrow night, then we shall go to 12 and 13 and all of them are strategic. All of them are critical. You know, we've gone out of the old The old covenant in the past we've been dealing with all that and now we're getting into those things That are quite applicable to our personal lives.

You know, it is interesting as we said early in the week that most Christians I think it's safe to say that most Christians are still laboring around. Still moving around those things that relate to the earthly things of Jesus and have very little awareness of what he is doing now in the heavenly realm on our behalf and what that means to us in our personal daily walk.

As a Christian and so the writer of the Hebrews as I've said, I believe it is Paul and gave you my reasons for that. So you'll permit me from time to time I'll say the writer and sometimes I'll say Paul and I wouldn't be dogmatic about it either way.

We'll know when we get up yonder and so that'll be alright. But we know that someone wrote it and so in chapter 10. We want to continue along and what he started over in chapter 9. He's going to continue with somewhat for a while talking about the heavenly sanctuary, you know and he's talking about the superiority of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus and Specifically in chapter 10. He's going to talk about Jesus Christ The Messiah of Israel the Savior making one offering that brought about total perfection.

And this is why it is superior to the not one offering but the many offerings in the Old Testament. They never had one offering they had many offerings and yet Jesus offered one offering and that is sufficient for everything.

And so he's going to give us how the priesthood and Jesus priesthood is based after not Aaron, but who? You recall the mysterious figure Melchizedek. Melchizedek. Jesus is from the tribe of Judah not the tribe of Levi.

Priests are from Levi. So that's why he wasn't a priest on earth, isn't it? He is now a priest in the heavenly realm and he has a greater priesthood. We have a greater sanctuary because it's a heavenly sanctuary and now we're talking about a greater sacrifice.

Because it is made by him. He's going to give us three reasons in chapter 10. There are basically three reasons as to why the sacrifice of Christ The Messiah is superior to the sacrifices of the Old Testament.

All right. The first one is it takes away sin and he spends 10 verses of chapter 10 discussing that. Chapter 10 verses 1 through 10 for those of you that are outlining this he is going to talk about how it takes away sin.

Now in the first four verses he says the Old Testament sacrifices had no real effect or lasting effect. You might say they were ineffective. They were ineffective for one thing. They belong to the age of what we've called types and shadows.

We've talked about that several times. They were pictures and portraits for gleams. Shadows of that which was coming on the scene. So therefore if they were the pictures if they were the shadows then they could never change the heart.

They could never change or deal with the conscience of a man or a woman notice in verse 1 what he says for the law having a shadow of Good things to come and not the very image of the things can never with those sacrifices which they offered.

Year-by-year continually make those who come to it or those who approach it. Those who come there with he says cannot make them perfect. Can I give them a right standing before God or a perfect standing of righteousness before the Lord?

So when did they offer them year by year they had to do that that could be a reference to all the sacrifices or Specifically it could be a reference to the chief sacrifice on Yom Kippur the day of atonement.

When the high priest went in behind the veil, it could be a reference to that because in verse 11 notice and Every priest standeth daily ministering and offering offering the same sacrifices which can never take away sin.

So year by year day by day day by day. They offered all those daily sacrifices and year by year once a year the high priest would offer his. Or you could just say they offered him every day all year whichever way you want to approach it.

But they could never take away sin and this is what he's approaching us. Otherwise the high priest and the priest if they could take away sin, they wouldn't have to continually do them. They wouldn't have to just keep on repeating those things now in chapter 9.

You remember over in verse 10 through 14 Explained that these Old Testament rituals dealt with what they dealt with the flesh. Did they not they dealt with the outwardness they dealt with the Ceremonial cleanliness they brought about the ceremonial cleanness are they brought about?

Removal of that which was unclean only by ceremony only by rituals only by performing these and so it was always outside. As we say it never had anything to do with the heart or the conscience and they produced a remembrance of sins.

The remembrance of sin was always there and we saw that very clearly last evening. But never a remission of sin now when you take the Lord's Supper, what do you remember? You don't remember your sins?

Oh, you have to pray and make sure your sins are forgiven before you take of it. But when you and I partake of the Lord's Supper Holy Communion, we think about him. We are concentrating on him who he is and what he has done so we don't have to have a remembrance of sin.

Why do we not have to have because he has removed those sins. We have a remission of sin. We've seen that in chapter 9 verse 22. It says without the shedding of blood. There is no remission of sin. So the blood has been shed therefore we have remission of sin.

He has forgotten them. So the Old Testament sacrifices were ineffective to take away sin. Now in this that it takes away sin. He's going to show in verse 5 all the way down to verse 20. He's going to deal with that.

We're saying the first 10 verses, but he's going to go from 5 Down to 10 rather 5 to 10. What he's going to do is to talk about how Christ's sacrifice Becomes effective and he does it in several ways.

But you'll notice that in verse 3 lest we pass it by but in those sacrifices There is a remembrance again made of sins every year same thing that he said earlier in preceding chapters. So there always is now in verse 5.

He's going to quote Psalm 40 verses 6 through 8. He's quoting Psalm 40 verses 6 through 8. Let's look at it. Wherefore when he comes into the world he saith Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not but a body thou has prepared Me.

Now you recall what we mentioned in John chapter 1 in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and the Word became flesh and Dwelt or tabernacled amongst me and we said that Jesus was never born no matter what you do at Christmas time.

You do not celebrate the birth of Jesus. Jesus was never born. He has always been the eternal pre-existent Son of God. What happened in Bethlehem was God prepared a body. Whereby God himself in the person of the Son would come and dwell on the earth in human flesh and in that little baby dwelt the very Godhead himself and the glory of God and the personal presence of God on the planet earth and he says that God Prepared him a body because he always was and he was the Son.

Did he not himself say father? I pray that these people will love one another in the same way that you and I have loved one another throughout all time. He plainly says that over in John chapter 17 and that great prayer of intercession.

And so what we're saying here is when he came into the world the Holy Spirit had prepared for him a body and he in That body completely Dedicated himself to the will of God. Verse 6 in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin.

Thou has no pleasure then said I lo. I come in the volume of the book. It is written of me to do thy will. Oh God. Jesus was committed even though he was the Son even though he is God himself. He was committed to the will of the Father and he submitted himself totally to the will of the Father.

You recall whenever the disciples and Jesus was stopping along the way and the disciples said he's hungry and they went off to get something to eat. They brought it back to him and you recall what he said to them and they said aren't you hungry?

You haven't had anything all day. You remember what he said? I have meat that you don't know anything about. He said my food is to do the will of him who sent me and it is true. There are times when you so get committed to the things of God that food just you know.

You say man, I forgot to eat lunch. It's hard to think a Baptist could ever forget something like that. But but sometimes you can we can get caught up in the things of the Lord. So greatly and get the burden so strong and just get involved in serving the Lord that we actually forget.

Sometimes to have a meal it becomes immaterial. Food is secondary. It's secondary and this is what he's saying to us here. And so that body was going to be sacrificed upon the cross now. There are many passages Psalm 51 verse 10 and verse 16 first Samuel 15 22 and Isaiah 1 11.

Psalm 51, you know, is that great penitential psalm of repentance by King David? This is wash me and I shall be clean purge me and I shall be whiter than snow. Removed from me this blood guilt in this mice my tongue shall sing aloud of thy praise and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

But in that psalm and along with a first Samuel 15 22 and Isaiah 1 verse 11 and following we find that God very plainly indicates to us that The blood of the animals and the blood of all those sacrifices.

That he had to set those things aside and there had to be a substitute someone else had to come along and to pay that and so what he did was establish this new covenant through the blood of his Son and by his surrender to the will of God.

Then you and I because of that have been completely set apart watch this carefully look at verse 10. By which will they says over here that he plainly in verse 7 that he was committed to do the will of God and Then verses verse 10.

He tells us about that will by which will we are sanctified set apart set aside. By what through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all now just under that. He talks about the high priest out and the other priest how they daily but Jesus offered it once and for all now.

Listen to me carefully. That means you are set apart for the things of God. Whenever you became a Christian when you were born again God Accepted the covenant as I said earlier the week that he and the Son have made on your behalf.

You become a child of God and God has set you apart for his service and for himself. You have been created the scripture says in Christ Jesus unto good works. And he is going to accomplish in your life and mine what he has set out to do.

We make it hard on ourselves sometime, but he is going to do what he has said. He's going to do in our lives. Why. Because we have been sanctified. You sanctified this building. It is set apart to serve the Lord.

It is set apart for the worship of God and you as a believer have been set apart to glorify God and to magnify his son. Why. Because Jesus paid for you. Jesus bought you. Well, we know he didn't get a good deal with us, but we talked about that early in the week.

He knew he got a bad deal when he got us, but he's gonna make it right. He's gonna take that and make it what it ought to be. And so this is what we're talking about here that we have been sanctified Forever in this particular matter.

And so what we're saying is that it takes away sin that makes the price of Christ greater than the Old Testament sacrifices. But there's a second reason that he gives and it means in verse 11 through 18 that and we've already talked about it that you only Had to do it one time.

There's no repetition. It did not have to be repeated now. The Old Testament priest stands daily. Christ has sat down at the right hand of the father. This will see in verse 12, but this man well look at verse 11 and every priest stands stands stands daily.

Ministering and offering off of the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the right hand of God. Jesus died on the cross raised from the dead.

I send it to the father in Acts 1 10 and 11. Went back to the right hand of the match day and just sat down why everything that needs to be done has been done. It's all over. He doesn't have to do it again.

He doesn't have to go back to the cross again. And so this is a contrast between him and the Old Testament. Also, they offer the same sacrifices quite often. It says in verse 11 The same sacrifices and they offer them often but he only offered one sacrifice.

One time that one sacrifice was who it was himself and the only did it once now. There are some denominations or religions if you want to call them that at every time they worship they actually have a bloodless sacrifice of Jesus again a Mass is a bloodless Sacrifice whether you know that or not.

If you don't know that you need to study the word and you need to study that. I'm not talking about people. I'm talking about systems of belief and That is a bloodless sacrifice and it is a reoffering of that every single service.

But the Bible says he did it one sacrifice one time and there's no need for any other bloodless or any other kind. It has been done and that's why he sat down at the right hand of the father. And so by that one offering what has happened to us notice verse 14 4 by 1 well verse 13.

He just repeats Psalm 110 1. You remember we said Psalm 110 seems to be the key Psalm of Hebrews. It's used over and again. Psalm 110 4 has been quoted several times. Here's Psalm 110 1 the Lord said unto my Lord set thou at my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

And then verse 14 4 by 1 offering he hath Perfected forever them that are sanctified and you and I know as we look at each other and as we look at ourselves. We don't see much perfection. I Mean there doesn't seem to be but as far as your Lord is concerned when he looks at you.

You are perfected in his eyes. You are perfect in his eyes. You are complete in his eyes. Why. Because not who you and I are but what he has done. He has taken the perfection that is in his son and he has placed that to your account.

And when God sees the record of your life He does not see all of these things that we run around and get. Satan accuses us in our minds about he sees you in his Son and he sees you standing in righteousness in his son.

Now that's not a license to do as we please because once we realize what he has done for us. Then our desires begin to change and we submit them to him and he begins to move them in the right direction but neither should we let the enemy of souls and mankind come in and continually taunt our minds and Contaminate our thinking by keep telling us.

Well, you're unworthy. You're not worth anything. God doesn't love you. Nobody else loves you and who have you anyway and all of these things. We know those things may very well be true, but we are accepted in the beloved.

We are accepted in Christ and God loves you just like you are and you don't have to be anybody else. You don't have to be anybody else now. I don't care about your aerobics and all that stuff do all that stuff, but you don't have to be like anybody else.

You just be yourself in the Lord. He loves you for who you are and he died for you. He died for me, but he died for you and you don't have to be me and I don't have to be you. Why is it that we're always trying to make everybody like us?

Cloning. We clone everybody. Somebody says I don't really know how to live for the Lord. Could you show me out? We don't show them what the Bible says about living for the Lord. We start telling them how we do it.

They already got those problems. They trying to learn how to live for the Lord. They don't want the same problem you and I got and we can direct them to the word. They won't make mistakes and If they do make mistakes, they'll know what to do about it.

The problem is most Christians act like most Christians and Most Christians do like most Christians and that's why the church is just hang on and try to stay even in the world. Because most Christians are like most Christians.

But we find one that's really fired up for the Lord. We call him a fanatic. He's not right. He's not normal something's wrong with him. Why he reads his Bible all the time. While they're always praying they're always singing.

They'll even carry their Bible into a restaurant. They'll carry their New Testament on the job. If you don't watch them you be standing next to him in a shopping center, they'll handle track to somebody God forbid.

They'll embarrass you to death. Won't they cause they talk about Jesus. We don't be around those kind of people, but that's the kind of person that you find is in the New Testament. But we don't want to be like that we want we want them to be like us because we're more tactful than that.

We are more mellow than that. We're kinder than we are. We're not as bold and aggressive as they are we say which is a rationalization for not doing much for Jesus and yet They just serve the Lord. So what's he saying here?

Well things ought to change and he offered one time verse 14 and we are perfected forever. Because we have been sanctified set apart by him once and for all he has done that back up to verse 10. Once and for all the last three words always remember those and underline them.

So the Old Testament sacrifices produced a remembrance of sin. Every time they went but Christ's sacrifice makes possible a remission of sin. Look at verse 18 now where remission of these is there is no more offering for sin.

Why don't you and I keep offering for sin because we don't have a remembrance of them why don't we remember our sins and keep offering for sin because verse 17 and Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more?

He just doesn't remember so we don't have to keep offering. Jesus did that Jesus did that and so therefore God does not remember them. Our sins have been pardoned and sent away forever and I use the illustration time and time again because it's so prevalent in our mind.

We had a president of the United States that got in some problems and we had another president that pardoned him. Yes. Yes, you know that the charges against that man that was pardoned can never again be brought up in history.

No matter what anybody says or finds or does he is free from that forever. It can never be brought how much more so if God pardons you and me. Are we free from those things that we've come to him for why do we keep letting those things crowd in our lives?

But we do it we do it. We don't want to do it and we know we shouldn't but that old mind is strange and so we do it. But thank the Lord we're moving on right we're moving on and we're learning better than that.

And we're growing in the Lord and each day it gets better doesn't each day. We're able to get a grip on it. And so that's what we're doing. Now. We're looking into this scripture. So, you know that in Leviticus 16 on the day of atonement Yom Kippur the high priest got two goats, didn't he recall?

He got him two goats. Goat s two goats and they came in and what he would do is he would pray over one of those goats and Sometimes he wouldn't sometimes he would sometimes he would put his hands on the goat and sometimes he would lay his hands over the goat but around the head of the goat, which was Indicating the transference or the taking of the sins of the children of Israel and placing them upon that goat.

And that's what we get the term, you know, well scapegoat. Scapegoat takes the blame for everything and so they took that goat turned it over to a Stranger and the stranger to the people of Israel would lead that goat out into the wilderness and they turned him loose.

Never to be seen again. They didn't worry about it and that indicated to them are symbolized or pictured the remission of sins. Sins gone and that's exactly what the Bible says happened when Jesus Christ came.

God took our sins and put them upon him and they are forever gone. He has done away with them and that is what the word remission means. It means they're carrying away of all of our sins. So when we have remissions of sins, they have been carried away.

Turned them loose. Let them go. Don't try to keep them with you. Don't try to keep hanging on to those sins. You have confessed them forget them. You forget you've confessed them go on. Don't worry about them.

Don't let them bother you. Just keep on going just keep on going and this is what he's indicating. That is what he did. There's no more offering for sin. Why. Because there's no more remembrance of sin.

The Holy Spirit witnesses in our heart and 14 to 17 are Extremely critical verses. What's the key to it all it is the grace of God. God just remembers our sins and liquid is no more because that's what he wants to do.

It's between him and his son Jesus. Doesn't have anything to do whether you belong to this church or in the other church. Well, you've been baptized or haven't been baptized where you read your Bible or don't when you pray or you don't if you're a born-again Child of God, it's all been taken care of between God and Christ.

You can become an obedient child you can become a disobedient child, but you shall always remain a child. You are his and you belong to him and it's all by his wonderful and marvelous grace. This is what God has said and this is what he wants us to do and you recall in Jeremiah 31.

We read about how he was going to do that. He was going to take that new covenant and he says that he was going to write it into the hearts of mankind. He would no longer write it on stone. So what he says the three things that he's talking about here is one it takes away sin.

Secondly, it never needs to be repeated. No repetition necessarily. And thirdly he begins to move into the life of faith or the area of walking by faith. And he says you now have access to God because the way is now forever open to God.

Bold Access to God Through a New and Living Way

Verses 19 all the way to verse 39 the remaining part of chapter 10. He talks about how God's Presence is now open for every person. Breaking it down in verse 19 to 21. He gives us an explanation of what he's going to do having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.

By a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil that is to say his flesh and having a high priest over the house of God. Now he just kind of reviews the blessings. He just kind of reviewing what we have because Christ died once and for all and he says we have a perfect standing and we Have boldness and that word boldness is interesting.

It doesn't mean you and I have the right to just come sauntering into the presence of God. So well here I am God. He is a holy God. He is a righteous God and as before any king if you knew the king's son if you knew the prince and prince that I'd like.

For you go and meet my dad. You'd still be quite cautious you wouldn't just go strolling in and taking for granted or presuming upon the graciousness of that King and neither do you and I Presume upon the goodness and the graciousness of God because we're Christians, but what it does mean is we have a freedom of speech.

We are able to freely approach the throne of the Lord and speak to him. Whatever's on our heart. We have a freedom to come to him and talk to him about anything at any time and we can come into his presence.

There is no veil between us and God. You recall the veil in the tabernacle. You know as well as I that that veil symbolized the body of Christ. That veil symbolized the body of Christ because that veil Enveloped our hell within the glory of the Lord and Christ's body Enveloped or holds in the glory of the Lord and when the veil was torn.

Then the way into the Holy of Holies was seen by all people and when Christ's body hung upon the cross and was pierced By the nails and the thorns and the spear then the way was opened into the presence of God.

The way was open. And so this is the symbolism that's involved in this. So we have a new way and it's based upon a new covenant and it's based upon a living priest. All Old Testament priests are dead, but we have a living priest and The house of the Lord had now has another high priest and the house of the Lord is the church the body of Christ.

We have a new and living high priest who ever lives. He always lives. He always will live to make intercession for us. And so he just sort of explains that and then in verse 22 He gives us an invitation by giving us three statements that begin with let us.

Three let us statements you notice them. He says in verse 22 to 25 Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful that promise and let us Consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but Exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

So he's sort of giving us an invitation. Let us let us let us he's inviting those believers to do something. He just kind of reviews. He said here's what God's done for you. Now, let me show you come on over and let's talk about this.

Let me explain something to you here. Let us draw near in verse 22 instead of what drifting away. You recall at the very first of the Hebrews? We've talked about those things people began to drift away from the Word of God by neglecting it by neglecting it.

He said draw near instead of drifting away. Let us hold fast. You remember our profession. We said the word profession means confession. Let's stand fast on what we believe. Let's don't compromise what we believe our testimony our faith are some translations have Hope let us hold fast the profession the confession of our faith of our hope without wavering without wavering.

We don't have to apologize for what you believe. Let's just stand in it and encourage others. Let's Encourage let's consider Verse 24, let us consider one another let's consider other Christians. Let's consider other believers is an example of what he was saying.

Let's encourage our brothers and sisters in the Lord what to be true to Christ. Be true to Jesus. Why is it that when someone in the church has a problem many times they're criticized instead of encouraged now I'm not saying I hope your church doesn't experience that but you and I both know that there are churches of varying denominations where that happens if a Christian gets in a crisis or has a problem or Even sometimes gets into a deterioration of their home and maybe even a divorce in their home.

They are immediately Criticized when that's when everybody in the church ought to go to them and envelop them with arms of love and encourage them. They don't need criticism. They need help. They need encouragement.

They need to be lifted up, but that's not the way we are many times. But yet that's what he says. Let's consider one another what would happen if you and I were in that situation, you know. What we'd want we'd want the church's very tender loving care.

We'd want the very best. We don't want them criticizing. Well, we have to apply these things don't we? Why don't we do that to others which we would have them do unto us on these same circumstances? And this is what he's talking about.

It seems to me and he goes on and says in verse 24 Let us consider one another and if you're going to provoke one another don't provoke one another to anger. Don't provoke one another to resentment provoke one another to love.

That's what he says. Provoke unto love and to good work if you're going to provoke anybody to do anything provoke them to love and do good work. Be faithful. Well, that isn't the way I see it is the way you see it now.

I know I'm a part of the problem, too. See, I know I'm a part of the problem too because I know there are people that I provoke. I just provoke them. I know how to provoke them to love. I know how to provoke them to good work, but sometimes I'd provoke them to anger to resentment.

Argumentation and all those things and I don't understand that sometimes because I would never do anything like that. Would you. I would never. I don't they got problems. Haven't they all those people that have problems with us.

They just don't understand us if they understood us. They wouldn't have these problems, but nevertheless, this is what he's saying. And then notice what it says. He says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together now.