Hebrews 9:15-28 | Redemption through the Blood of Christ

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May 1, 2022 Covenant Reformed Baptist Church Tullahoma, TN Pastor Jeff Rice

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If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, we'll be in chapter nine again. This time we will look at verses 15 through 28.
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Hebrews chapter nine, 15 through 28. Father, please, in the name of your son,
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Jesus Christ, Yeshua Yamashiach, meet with us, your people.
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We pray in his name, amen. All right, so last week we looked at Yom Kippur, or what could be called
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Yom Kippurim, the day of atonement, it's what's called the atonement.
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It's what God had put in place to bring about forgiveness.
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It's also known as the end of sin. This was a
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Jewish feast day that took place year after year after year, where the work of the high priest would daily go and light the lamps, and on the
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Sabbath, he would set the bread and he would light the incense on the altar, and we saw that the lampstand was a foreshadowing, a picture of us, the church, and that the table of showbread was a representation, a picture of Israel, and at this altar, was to prefigure prayers that went up before God.
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But then on the day of atonement, this Jewish feast day, Yom Kippur, the high priest, after he would do these things, he would go and he would make a sacrifice for his own sins and for the unintentional sins of his people, then he would wash off in the brazen labor, and then he would go into the most holy place and he would sprinkle the blood on the ark, and it was to signify this day, this day of atonement, and whenever he would walk out, he would place his hands on one of the goats, there were two, he placed his hands on one of them, he would pray his sins and the sins of the people upon it, let that one go free, but the other one was the sacrifice that was to God, and that was the blood that was spilt on the ark.
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Again, the day of atonement, it means the end of sin, and before we get started in our passage,
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I want to look at Daniel chapter nine real quick. You can turn there if you want to, but keep your finger in Hebrews.
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Daniel chapter nine is about the Messiah coming and doing what, putting an end to sin, an end to sin,
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Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. I think a lot of times we can overlook what's been signified here in Daniel chapter nine.
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It's speaking of this day that we talked about last week. So in Daniel nine, 24 through 27,
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I'm gonna read it, then I'm gonna circle back to verse 24 and 27. So Daniel nine, okay, here we go.
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Verse 24, 70 weeks are decreed about your people, so he's speaking to Daniel, your people would be the
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Jews, and your holy city, which is Jerusalem, to finish transgressions, to put an end to sin,
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Yom Kippur, to atone for iniquity, to bring about everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
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So these are the six things that the Messiah would do when he came. Verse 25, therefore, understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build
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Jerusalem and to the coming of the anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks.
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Then for 62 weeks, it shall be built again with square and moat, but in a troubled time.
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And after the 62 weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and have nothing.
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And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end, there shall be war.
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Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant for one week.
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And for half a week, and for half of the week, he shall, listen, put an end to sacrifice and offerings.
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And on the wing of an abomination shall come one who makes desolate. And to the decree end is poured out on the desolator.
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So if you want to hear an exposition of this, we have it on our YouTube. You can go back.
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We kind of took an interruption in Hebrews, and we kind of walked through this as a foundation.
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So what I'd like to point out today is what Jesus Christ, the Messiah, when he came, there was six things that he was to do, and was for the people, his people, the
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Jews, and it would take place in the holy city, that he would put an end to transgressions.
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And we see that transgressions is violating the law. He would put an end to it. He would put an end to sin.
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This is particularly speaking about Yom Kippur. This is something that they did year after year.
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But there would be one to come who would actually put an end to sin, and he would do it by atoning for iniquity.
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He would bring in an everlasting righteousness. And we know that for those of us who are in Christ, are we righteous in ourselves?
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No. What are we righteous in? Christ, all right? Our righteousness is everlasting, not because we ourselves are righteous, but because Jesus Christ, the
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Messiah, is righteous, and that he would seal both vision and prophet. What was the prophets in the
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Old Testament, what did they prophesy? A coming judgment. We see it in our text. And the coming
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Messiah, we see it in our text. John the Baptist was the very last Old Testament prophet.
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And that Jesus would anoint a most holy place. Speaking of his death, burial, resurrection, ascending into the heavens, the most holy, applying the blood.
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We've been talking about it, and we'll see that again today. Jump down to verse 27. It says that he will make a covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offerings.
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So this, I believe, it's speaking about the ending of the 70 years, would have taken place in about 34
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A .D. This middle place would have been 30
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A .D. Jesus would have came upon the scene, his baptism at 27 A .D.
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His death would have been around 30 A .D. The ending of the 70 weeks would have been around 34
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A .D. 30 A .D., he's crucified, he puts an end to sacrifice and offerings.
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And from there, through our book of Hebrews, we see that even though he has put the end to sacrifice and offerings, they keep going back to temple.
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And this is the abomination that causes the desolation. They're continuing to crucify, once again, the
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Son of God to their own harm after he has put an end to sacrifice and offerings.
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He has put an end to sin. Our theme for today is redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ.
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We are redeemed through the blood, right? The matter at hand that we're looking at, that we have been looking at, and will continue to look at, is the new covenant.
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And the worst thing someone, anyone can do under the new covenant is to forget its purpose, the reason behind the new covenant.
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The new covenant is how God is going to redeem a people to himself.
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And if the reason behind the new covenant matter in the first century, and we can see from the text that it mattered to our writer, then the reason behind the new covenant should matter to us today.
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If one doesn't think about or understand the new covenant, it will be easy for him or she to drift away from it, from its truth.
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And if that takes place, it's easy to fall away from what's written and to live however they please.
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In our outline today, we will see the purpose of the crucifixion. If you remember three weeks ago, we saw the purpose of the resurrection.
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This week, we'll look at the purpose of the crucifixion. I know it's kind of backwards, but this is just how it works out, right?
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I can't jump ahead and preach this and then go back and work my way through. My wife was pointing that out to me.
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Yeah, I know. So this week, the purpose of the crucifixion, and we have three points.
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First one is a death had to occur. The second point is blood had to be shed.
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And our third point is heaven had to receive. So a death had to occur, blood had to be shed, and heaven had to receive.
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And as we transition, remember, we'll look back again from three weeks ago and we'll look at what took place.
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He was beaten with fists and rods, correct? He was with a cat of nine tails.
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This is that whip that had bone and had stone and had marble wrapped into the whips.
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Whenever they whip him with it, it would rip his flesh. It would bruise him. The Psalms tell us that they ripped his beard from his face.
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They fashioned a crown of thorns and shoved it on his head. They stripped him. Naked and nailed him hands and feet to a
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Roman cross, and then they put a spear the size of your hand into his side.
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You remember him telling Thomas, who was doubting, stick your hand in my side.
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He didn't say stick your finger, stick two fingers. He said stick your hand in my side.
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The Roman spear was nothing to play around with, right? And so with that in mind, let's look at our first heading.
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A death had to occur, chapter nine, verses 15 through 17.
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So instead of reading it in one large chunk, because it is such a large passage, we're just gonna take it by the headings, 15 through 17.
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Therefore he, speaking of Jesus, is the mediator of a new covenant so that those who are called may receive the promised internal inheritance since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
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For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established.
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For a will takes effect only at death since it is not forced as long as the one who made it is alive.
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So it says therefore, speaking of therefore he, the he here is Jesus, when you look back at verse 14, says how much more will the blood of Christ through the eternal spirit offer himself without blemish to God purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living
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God. So therefore he, Jesus Christ, is the mediator.
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Right, the mediator is the high priest. The high priest would mediate for God and his people.
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The high priest is Jesus. Jesus is the high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
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It says therefore he, Jesus, is the mediator of a new covenant.
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This new covenant we believe is the covenant of grace. And it goes on speaking about the called.
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So if you look right here, the new covenant so that those who are called, so right here, let's just stop for a second.
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The called here is, I'm gonna argue that it's to those who are effectually called, but whenever you hear the word called, so the
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Bible talks about many are called, but few are chosen. So you have here what's called the general call and the effectual call.
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The general call is when a person proclaims gospel, tells someone what
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God has done for them in Christ, and then he calls them to faith and repentance, to trust, turn for themselves, and to trust what
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God has done for them in Christ. This is the general call, right? All men are to be called this way.
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That's why the Bible urges us to evangelize, to witness, to be a witness for Jesus Christ.
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When you witness this is what you're doing, you're proclaiming, it is a general call. The effectual call is whenever you're proclaiming this gospel, this message, and you're calling men to faith and what
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God has done for them, the Holy Spirit applies the purpose of what
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Christ was sent here for. God, purpose to save the people, Christ accomplishes the purpose, the
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Holy Spirit applies the purpose. He removes the heart of stone and he gives them a heart of flesh, he sprinkles them with clean water, he puts his spirit in them that causes them to obey the law,
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Ezekiel 36. This is what John three and Jesus speaks about being born again.
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This is what Ephesians talk about when you're saved by grace through faith, not of works. This is the effectual call.
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So right here where it says, those who are effectual call, it's speaking, the effectual call is speaking about those who believed
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God's promise. And this talks about for an eternal, may receive the promise and the promise is the eternal inheritance.
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So again, so right here, makes sense why the three weeks ago we spoke on the resurrection because we looked at the eternal inheritance.
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The eternal inheritance equals the resurrection of the dead. Your resurrected bodies is the eternal inheritance.
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So here in verse 15, the writer seems to be assuring the listeners of the retroactivity work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
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Let's read that again and I'll kind of explain that. Therefore he, Jesus, is the mediator of a new covenant, this covenant of grace that God has blessed us with so that those who are called effectually may receive the promise of eternal inheritance, their resurrected bodies since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed.
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Listen, under the first covenant. So this retroactivity work of Jesus Christ on the cross applies to them in the old covenant.
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That's what the writer is telling us. Listen, all the Hebrews who believed
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God, who believed God for this promise, what Christ did applies to them.
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It's not just for you. It's not just for future people. It applies to them, retroactivity.
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It was retroactive. The work done by Christ on the cross applies to old covenant believers, them who were effectually called, given grace to believe, just like we are, right?
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Same way Abraham is saved is the same way that I'm saved, by grace through faith in the promise.
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Now in verses 16 and 17, the writer seems to give an analogy. So before we read it, the
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Greek word here that we're looking at for will is deatic, which is kind of a hard word to say.
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I had to kind of like spell it in different ways so I can get it down. If you look at the Greek, it doesn't look like how it sounds, right?
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But it's deatic. Deatic in the Greek can mean will, but for the most part, it means covenant.
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So when you're reading through here, so in verse 16, it says will, and in verse 17, it says will, but this same
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Greek word throughout all of Hebrews means covenant. Same Greek word, but for some reason, the translators right here translate it will.
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Rather, if it's, you know, with the analogy, it doesn't seem to matter if it's will or if it's covenant.
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The analogy seems to still work the same. So we'll read it how the ESV lays it out, and then we'll look at it from both sides.
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Verse 16, for where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established.
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For a will takes effect only at death since it is not forced as long as the one who made it is alive.
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Excuse me. Okay, so the point that he's making is that a death had to occur for the will or the covenant to be established.
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Now, in the case of the will, if someone was to leave you something, say it's money, say it's a house, whatever it may be, if they were to leave you something in their will, it's not yours until they pass away.
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As long as they're living, as long as they are alive, this property, this money, whatever it is belongs to them, but when they pass, it's yours.
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And so the writer's speaking of it in light of the new covenant, right?
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Now, if we look at it in the case of covenantal, which is what I believe the writer is getting at, without the death of the one who made the covenant, there will be no new covenant.
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And I believe because it's speaking about the new covenant, that it's pointing back to Genesis 3 .15. God made a covenant, right?
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He gave them the promise that an offspring would come who would bruise the head of the serpent, he would redeem everything that went wrong, he would redeem it all.
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Imagine Adam biting into the apple, Christ comes and he's going to remove the bite.
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That's the work that God is doing in establishing the new heavens and the new earth where peace and righteousness dwells.
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He is removing the curse, not only from man by us becoming righteous in Christ, but also the earth will one day be renewed.
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Now, who made the covenant? God, right?
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Well, the Gospel of John tells us that no one has ever seen God, the
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Father, but God the Son has come to make him known, right?
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So you can, there's an argument that Adam, when Adam was in the garden, he was talking to God, he was walking with God, that this was a pre -incarnated
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Christ. This was Jesus. Jesus made this covenant. And it will not be established unless the death of the one who made it occurs.
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I believe that's what the writer here is arguing for. He's arguing that this death, it accounts to all old covenant believers who believed in the promise of what the
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God -man made to Adam that a seed, an offspring would come from the woman, from the line of Abraham who would bruise the head of the serpent, crucifixion, while only bruising his heel through his death.
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At his death, this would occur. And as we transition, we see that the death, we see that death had to occur in order for the new covenant to be established.
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We see that it took the death of God's own son to save a people like me.
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You are a people like me. We read this every
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Lord's Day. First Corinthians chapter 11, verse 25, speaking on the Last Supper, Jesus says this, this is the cup, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.
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Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me, that this new covenant is in the blood.
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Point number two, blood had to be shed. We see this in Hebrews 9, verses 18 through 22.
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Therefore, not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and he sprinkled the book, both the book itself and all the people, saying, this is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.
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In the same way, he sprinkled the blood, both the tent, we saw this last week, the tent and all the vessels used in worship.
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Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.
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Now real quick, I wanna read three verses from Exodus. Exodus chapter 24.
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This will be our last Old Testament turn for today. 24, verses six through eight, and this is speaking about what we just read.
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I'm not gonna read it all for the sake of time, just the punch of it.
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Verse six, and Moses took half of the blood and he put it in a basin and half of the blood, he threw it against the altar.
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And he took the book of the covenant and he read it to the hearing of the people and he said, all that the
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Lord has spoken, we will do and we will be obedient. And Moses took the blood and he threw it on the people and said, behold, the blood of the covenant that the
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Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.
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Now what's been spoken here can easily pass us by because our day and time is not in that context, right?
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Sometimes even as Christians, when we're reading the Bible, it can be as if they're speaking in a different language because we're not in their context.
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And we think, why so much blood? Why so much blood? In our context, blood seems to be something that is unclean.
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And yet the scriptures view of blood is the only thing that makes something unclean clean.
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Now if someone was to right now bleed on you as soon as you were able to, you would go and clean yourself to wash their blood from you.
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And yet we sing songs like nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can wash away my sins?
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I would tell y 'all to join in, but y 'all are Baptists. I know y 'all won't. Nothing but the blood of Jesus, right?
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What can wash away our sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. We are the unclean.
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And the Bible's telling us the only way that we can be made clean is if we're washed in the blood.
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The high priest could not enter the most holy place without blood, and you and I cannot stand before our holy, holy, holy
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God if we are not washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Look back at verse 22 of Hebrews 9.
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Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood.
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And without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.
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So the question is, is your sins forgiven? Are you washed in the blood?
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Have you been purified by the blood? Or do you sing that song with this congregation in vain?
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Are you saying something out loud that's not true? As we transition, as y 'all know
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I do street witnessing, I'm often asked this question. If God is so good, why do bad things happen?
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Right? You've probably been asked that question. And I often tell them that God is just, and he's the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ.
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That God is just, and God is the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ. And I'll kind of ask them a question.
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I'll say something like, is it possible for a human judge to be both just and the justifier?
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Can a human judge punish a man for his crimes, and after his crimes have been paid for, can he release him?
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Well, yes. Absolutely. If you are, or let's say you're arrested, and someone pays your fine, can the judge let you go free and be just and the justifier?
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Yes. We know this is true in a court of law. God is the, he is just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ.
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To those who are not in Christ, we'll receive justice. And to those who are in Christ, Christ received the punishment that we deserve.
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And he can be the justifier, we can go free because of what Christ has did for us, right? That's the message.
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That's what we represent, that's what we proclaim. Now to our third heading.
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Heaven had to receive. Hebrews 9, 23 through 28.
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28. Thus it was necessary for the copies, speaking about the furniture, the tabernacle, of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites.
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But the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
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For Christ has entered not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God.
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Listen to this. On our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly as the high priest enters the holy place every year with blood not of his own.
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For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world.
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But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
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And just as it is appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
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The only way heaven can receive us is if it received the blood sacrifice of Jesus, right?
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If heaven didn't receive that sacrifice, heaven cannot receive us because God, he is just and the justifier.
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And we see in our text that he did, that heaven did receive this sacrifice.
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Heaven did receive this blood payment in our place. But the same way the earthly copies were purified with blood,
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Christ purified the heavenly things with his blood. This is what our text is expressing to us.
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And if what took place on the cross wasn't retroactive, then
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Christ would have had to offer himself repeatedly from the beginning and for every generations up to 30
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AD. And in order for the old covenant saints to be forgiven and led into heaven, if his sacrifice wasn't retroactive, he would have to every generation, every 40 years, he would have to come and die repeatedly for every generation.
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And as well as every generation after, however, heaven has received the sacrifice.
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And we see that in chapter 10, verse 10. It was a one -time sacrifice for all people.
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Chapter 10, verse 10. And by that, we have been sanctified through the offering of the blood of Jesus Christ once for all, once for all.
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A one -time sacrifice for all generations. Retroactively, the cross applies to the old covenant believers, those who were effectually called by God, looked to the promised offspring of Abraham for a reformation, which is the new covenant.
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Prospectively, the cross applies to the effectual call. That would be to us retrospectively, us retrospectively looking back to the cross.
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So like the people in the old covenant looked forward to the cross, and we now we're looking back at what took place, but it applies to us prospectively.
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We look back retrospectively. This is what Baptist covenant theology teaches.
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This is what covenant theology teaches. And because of what Christ has done, them, us, and whoever's in the future, however long the
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Lord tarries, can be saved by a one -time sacrifice, that he put an end to sin, that when he died, that was the last
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Yom Kippur, Yom Kippur, day of atonement. And if you go back to the temple anymore after that and offer any kind of sacrifice, you are crucifying once again the
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Son of God to your own harm, which is why the writer is writing so harsh to this church, and this church filled with the
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Hebrew people, telling them to stop looking back to the temple. It's over with.
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And in the same way Christ died once, it was appointed unto us to die once, and then the judgment.
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For those that are in Christ, we will be welcome because Christ has purified us with his blood.
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The punishment that we deserve fell on Christ, and the mercy that we don't deserve comes to us.
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For those that are not in Christ, the only thing that you can expect is judgment. Bible's clear that there will be no grace in that day, that today is the day of salvation.
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You don't wait till tomorrow. Tomorrow is not promised.
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Today is the day of salvation. No one knows when the
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Lord is coming, and no one knows when you're going to die. The 10 out of 10 people die, 150 ,000 a day, 100 per minute, that's almost two per second.
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Today is the day of salvation to be washed in the blood of the
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Lamb, as the hymn writers declare. And verse 28 is the clearest passage on the second coming of Jesus Christ, in my opinion.
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Look at verse 28. So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.
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Right here where it says not to deal with sin, it's telling us that He's not coming, that the next time
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He comes, He's not coming to die. That by His death on the cross,
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He has already put an end to sin. Speaking of the day of atonement,
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He has fulfilled it. So question, why is
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He coming? Answer, the text tells us to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him. This speaking of the resurrection of the dead are entering into eternity and inheriting our inheritance.
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Right, we receive the new covenant, but we also receive the promise of our inheritance, the resurrection of our bodies.
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And because He has died, was buried, and He rose again, that when we die, we will be buried and we will be raised again.
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And that's what our baptism points to. It points to our being buried with Him and being raised to the newness of life.
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Our baptism is a sign of what Jesus Christ has done past tense, right?
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What He has done, not what we are doing. So it's the sign of the covenant, but everything in the new covenant points to Jesus Christ.
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So the call of faith and repentance is this. You and I, we have sinned, we have broken the 10 words, and God is just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ.
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And the good news is that God has intervened. It says it's appointed to man to die once, and then the judgment.
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God has intervened. When Jesus was on that cross, the wrath of God and the mercy of God that you deserve and I deserve, that wrath fell on Jesus.
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And the mercy of God that you don't deserve and neither do I, me probably more than you don't deserve it, comes to us because of what
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God has done for us in Christ, by Him sending His Son to live a perfect life and substitute for you and substitute for me and substitute for those that may be watching.
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And He died, He took upon Himself the punishment that you deserve, that I deserve as a substitute.
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And that this covenant that we enter into by faith alone is a covenant in His blood.
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How sure is this covenant? It's in His blood. That is surety.
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And we are washed clean by the only thing that can purify us, the blood of Jesus.
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For those that do not believe in Jesus Christ, when they die or when you die, you will receive the justice of God and you will suffer for all eternity.
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For those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, when we die, we will receive the grace of God because He is the justifier, because of what took place right at 2 ,000 years ago.
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God then, God displayed His justice in Him being the justifier once and for all by punishing our sins,
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Him being just, and us being able to enter into heaven righteous because He's the justifier.
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Because when you put your faith in Christ, you receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
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And I was speaking earlier about this righteousness. We don't come to God because we're righteous in ourselves.
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We come to God because He is righteous. And by faith in Him alone, we become righteous.
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We are credited, we are given something that we do not have. And that's why it's so wonderful to be a
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Christian, to be in Christ. How can you be in Christ and not be righteous?
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The two don't go together. If you're in Christ, you are righteous because you're in Christ.
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That's why it's wonderful to be a Christian because we have received the redemption that is only through His blood.
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I'm available to anyone, Pastor Calv, Josh as well. Let's pray.
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Father, Lord, we love you.
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And Lord, we know that we fell miserably in our love for you.
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We don't seek the kingdom as we ought. We don't seek you in prayer and fasting and study as we ought.
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We know that where we are faithless, you are faithful. And that our being in Christ is not about our performance, but it was by what was done for us by Him.
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So, on living the life we could not live and dying the death that we should die.
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The only reason why I'm able to stand before you today and pray is because I am in Christ.
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The only reason why we're able to gather together as a church is because we are in Christ. So please,
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God, please have mercy upon us, have mercy upon the church worldwide, give us grace, give us mercy, help us understand the times that we're in, help us to love one another, and help us to believe in your son all the more.
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Father, I pray for the congregation as they prepare their hearts, that as they prepare their mind to partake in the meal,
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Lord, that you bless them, that you bless me, and that we come to the table understanding what
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Christ Jesus has done. We pray these things in His name, amen.