Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. I'd like to welcome you to our
broadcast today. I'm glad you could join us. And if you'd like
to follow along in your Bibles, I'll be preaching from the book
of Hebrews chapter 10. I'll begin in verse 11, and I'm
gonna cover a few verses here. The title of the message is The
New and Living Way. The New and Living Way. And it's
from verse 20 of Hebrews 10, a new and living way, and that's
talking about the way of salvation by Christ. Why does he call it
a new way or a living way? Because it's always been the
one way of salvation. Well, I'm going to explain that
to you as we go through this passage of Scripture in Hebrews
chapter 10. And what you have to understand
at the beginning here is what I've been preaching through Hebrews
8, 9, and 10. And I've said this in most of
these messages, that what he's doing, he's setting God the Holy
Spirit through the writer of Hebrews, who I believe to be
the Apostle Paul, but many scholars disagree, but that doesn't matter
because God wrote this book. But the Holy Spirit is showing
a stark contrast between the Old Covenant law under which
Israel existed for 1500 years, that Old Covenant, and the New
Covenant under which believers today are under, which is the
New Covenant in Christ And it's called the New and Living Way
here because it's being contrasted with the Old Covenant Way. Now
in the Old Covenant, there was never, and this is something
you need to understand, you know, preachers today and people today,
they don't read the Old Testament. the old covenant laws and stipulations
as if it applies to America today or to them, and it doesn't. Not that it doesn't have a lot
of times some kind of a spiritual lesson for us. but that we're
not under that covenant. See, if you're a believer in
the Lord Jesus Christ, you're under the new covenant. The old
covenant has vanished away. The old covenant has been taken
away. He taketh away the first that
he may establish the second. And we're under the new covenant.
So that's key there. When did the old covenant, when
was the old covenant abolished by way of fulfillment and the
new covenant begun? It happened when Christ came
to the world, into the world, and obeyed unto death. Basically,
it happened at the cross. And we see that when Christ,
in John 19, 30, he said, it's finished. What was he talking
about? The redemption of his people, the fulfillment of all
prophecy, the establishment of every type and picture and foreshadowing
of the old covenant, And when he gave up the ghost, when he
died, the veil was torn in two. The veil in the temple was torn
in two from top to bottom, which was a physical sign that God
gave that the old covenant was gone, abolished. That's the old. And now he established the new
covenant. Now, but there's another point
that we need to understand about the new covenant. And that's
this, and I can't emphasize this too much. I've said it just about
in every program on this. The new covenant is not new in
the sense of the message of that covenant is brand new or newly
created, but the new covenant is the establishment in time
of the terms of the everlasting covenant of grace made before
time. In other words, the message of the new covenant, which is
the gospel, the gospel of how God saves sinners, God's free
and sovereign grace in the salvation of sinners based upon the righteousness,
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's an old message. It's never
been any different. That message was preached in
Genesis chapter 3 after man fell. And that message has been supported
all the way through the Old Testament, even during the time of the Old
Covenant. In fact, the Old Covenant was given to Israel to show them
their sin, their depravity, and the impossibility of salvation
by the works of men. And it was meant to be a schoolmaster,
Galatians chapter three, to drive them to Christ through promise
and prophecy for salvation, for righteousness, for preservation,
for blessings. So the new covenant only refers
to the timeframe in which Christ came, did his great work established
by that one offering. We're gonna see that in verse
14, just a minute. that one offering and from that
time on until the time of his second coming that's the New
Covenant, the New Testament age. Now let's look at this in verse
11 of Hebrews 10. He says, and every high priest
standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices which can never take away sin. Now what's he talking
about there? He's talking about the Old Covenant
priesthood. The old covenant priesthood was
established by Moses through his brother Aaron and the tribe
of Levi. All those who, you had the high
priest and then you had the Levitical priest. The high priest was to
be a direct descendant from Aaron and of course Aaron was of the
tribe of Levi as Moses was. And all the other Levites, many
of them, were attending priests. And you remember how they brought
sacrifices. They had the tabernacle. They
took sacrifices off the burnt offering. And the Levitical priests,
they could go into the holy place, which was inside the tabernacle,
And then in that, there was a curtain that separated what they called
the Most Holy, the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant
was, the Mercy Seat. And only the High Priest could
go in there with the blood of the Lamb off the altar one time
a year. So when he says, every priest
standeth daily, he's talking about the daily ministering of
the tribe of the Levitical priest. giving offerings, the same sacrifices,
but none of those could ever take away sin. What does that
mean, take it away? It means to pay satisfaction
for God's justice against sin, pay the sin debt. The blood of
the offerings, the sacrifices couldn't do that. Well, how is
sin taken away? Look at verse 12. But this man,
emphasizing the humanity of Christ. Now that's not denying his deity.
That's talking about Christ, who is both God and man in one
person. Mind-boggling truth. He says
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, now what
did he sacrifice? He sacrificed himself. He himself
was made sin. He was the sin offering, the
sin bearer. He's the surety and substitute
of his people. This man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, one time forever, listen to this,
he sat down on the right hand of God. He sat down. Do you know that that's something
that no old covenant priest, the high priest, the Levitical
priest could never do in their service in the tabernacle. There
were no chairs in the tabernacle. Why? Because their work was never
done. There was never perfection. There
was never completion. There was never satisfaction.
There was never righteousness established in their work. what
they did, pictured, prophesied, symbolized, foreshadowed one
who would come later and who would complete it all, establish
righteousness, put away sin by his own blood, the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see that? And he did it by one offering.
And he sat down. You know what that means? That
means the work's done. You don't sit down until the
work's done in this matter. And where did he sit down? It
says he sat down at the right hand of God. What's the right
hand mean? Well, the right hand means judgment.
Christ came under the judgment of God for the sins of God's
elect, God's chosen people. Their sins were imputed, charged,
accounted, reckoned to him. That's how he was made sin. His
righteousness has been imputed, reckoned, charged, accounted
to them so that they're justified before God because he went under
the judgment of God, the right hand of judgment. It's also the
right hand of fellowship and acceptance. The father accepted
what Christ accomplished on Calvary to pay for the sins of his people.
If you're a believer, you know that your acceptance with God
in any capacity, the acceptance of your person, the acceptance
of your offerings, your worship, your praise, your prayers, comes
through Christ, His merits, His righteousness, His blood. And
it says here in verse 13, from henceforth expecting till His
enemies be made His footstool. This is the victorious conqueror.
You know, the unbelieving Jews could not stomach the idea of
the suffering, lowly man of sorrows as Messiah. They looked at that as a defeated
reformer. They expected Christ to come
in the clouds on a white horse, conquering their enemies, which
was Rome at that time. Pat them on the back and say,
you fellas held it together till I got here, that kind of thing.
Well, he is coming in the clouds. And he is the conqueror that's
going to subdue this world and gather his people. That's his
second coming. In his first coming, he came
as the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, Isaiah 53. Highly
not esteemed among men. You see all of that lowly. But
here's what the unbelieving Jews failed to see, and this is what
unbelievers, even unbelieving Gentiles failed to see. In his
death, he was a mighty conqueror. Oh, death, where is thy sting?
Oh, grave, where is thy victory? Well, victory over death and
hell and sin and Satan and the world and the flesh came through
the death of Christ. In his death, he was the victorious,
mighty conqueror. And that's what he's talking
about. From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. Listen, when he comes again the second time, all who
are found at that time in unbelief, without Christ, without being
washed in his blood and clothed in his righteousness imputed,
they'll be made his footstool. And that symbolizes a forced
submission, not the submission that believers are brought to
by the Spirit of God in faith and repentance. He conquers. Well, it says in verse 14, It says, for by one offering,
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. There it
is. By his one offering, the offering of himself unto death
on the cross, he has perfected, completed, finished. You see,
Christ did not die for anyone who perishes because that by
his one offering, he has perfected forever them that are sanctified,
them that are set apart by God. How were they set apart? Well,
they were set apart before the foundation of the world in sovereign
electing grace and love, God chosen, and gave them to Christ,
conditioned all of their salvation upon Him. They were sanctified
on the cross when Christ died for their sins. The good shepherd
gives his life for the sheep. He redeemed his church. They
were set apart in him by redemption. And in time, they're set apart
in the new birth when the Holy Spirit sanctifies them gives
them life, spiritual life, and brings them under the preaching
of the gospel, brings them to faith in Christ and repentance
of dead works. Christ perfected them. His righteousness
has been imputed to them. And so verse 15 says, whereof
the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. And what he's saying here
is the Holy Spirit testifies of this. This is the testimony
of the Spirit. For after that he had said before,
verse 16, this is the covenant that I will make with them after
those days, saith the Lord. And that's after the days of
the old covenant when Christ comes. And he says, I will put
my laws into their hearts. That's the law written on the
heart, the gospel. And in their minds will I write
them. In other words, it's not going to just be an outside imposition,
burden, but he's going to give them a will and a desire to follow
him. And he says in verse 17, and
their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. That's an
amazing statement. What does it mean God will remember
them? Does that mean he'll forget them?
Or act as if they didn't exist? Some people believe that. No,
it doesn't mean that. God doesn't change. He doesn't
forget. He doesn't have to remember. God knows all things at all times. It's another mind-boggling truth. But when it says He will not
remember them, it means He will not bring them up so as to charge
them with their sins. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord chargeth not with iniquity. God doesn't charge them with
their sins. He doesn't keep a record of them so as to condemn them.
Why? Because Christ paid the price. Christ wiped the books clean,
as it were. The account was laid upon Him
and He paid it in full. Jesus paid it all. All to Him
I owe, or all the debt I owe. He paid it. He redeemed His people. There are sinners saved by grace,
but there is no sin that can condemn them because Christ went
under the wrath of God and He was condemned for them. That's
what a surety does. That's what a substitute does.
And so he says in verse 18 of Hebrews 10, now listen to this.
He says, now where remission, where pardon, forgiveness of
these is, that is of sin, there's no more offering for sin. Somebody
says, well, Christ paid for your past sins, but you got to pay
for your future sins. Oh, no. Where Christ's one-time
offering perfected forever them that are sanctified, there is
no more offering for sin. Now, there is sorrow over sin. Sinners saved by grace still
have to deal with the influence, the presence, and the contamination
of remaining sin. There's repentance. But the price
is fully paid. There's no more offering. There's
nothing you and I can do to pay for our sins. Christ did it all
for His people, if you're a believer. Now, all of that shows the power,
the scope, the effectuality of His blood. Christ is the offering. But now, another point to be
made in verse 18, no more offering for sin. All who reject Him as
the only way of salvation, as the only way of forgiveness and
remission, as the only way of righteousness for justification,
there's nothing else that can be done. There's no more offering.
You're in your sins and you'll perish. So here's the bottom
line now. Now listen to this. having therefore brethren, now
that's who he's talking to, believers, boldness, which means liberty,
free access to enter the holiest. Now that's not a earthly tabernacle,
that's the very presence of God by the blood of Jesus. That's
how it is. There's the ground, the blood,
the righteousness of Christ imputed. Having therefore brethren boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, verse 20,
by a new and living way. A new and living way. New, not
because the gospel message is new. That's always been the same.
New, but because what the gospel message speaks of in the person
and work of Christ has now been accomplished in time. And it's
not like that old covenant which was given in time first, the
old way. It's a new and living way. The
old way was a dead way. It only brought condemnation,
the ministration of death, Paul called it. But this new way,
that is the accomplishment of Christ in time, is a living way. It's life from the dead. It's
life eternal. This is life eternal, that they
might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent. You see, sin demands death. Righteousness demands
life. And Christ's righteousness is
a new and living way. Now, of course, the main evidence
of that new and living way in the death of Christ is that he
arose again the third day. That's why we preach the gospel
truth of the resurrection of Christ, the literal resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why was he risen from the dead?
It's because he established righteousness in his death. He satisfied justice
and righteousness demands life. So we have both, we who believe
now, brethren, We have free access, boldness, to enter into the very
presence of God by faith, to worship, to pray. To praise God, to serve God,
how is it? By the blood of Jesus. It's not
by our works, it's not by our merits, it's not by our goodness,
it's not by being qualified because of what we've done, or our sincerity. It's by totally one, the only
way, the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jehovah Hussein. The blood of Christ. And it's
a new and living way contrasted with the old dead way of the
old covenant. And it says in verse 20, by a
new and living way, which he, Christ, hath consecrated, literally
newly made, for us, for the brethren, for his brethren, through the
veil, that is to say his flesh, that's his humanity, that's how
he died, And having a high priest, verse 21, over the house of God,
the family of God, the elect of God, the church of God, verse
22, let us draw near with a true heart. The true heart is the
regenerated heart. It's the new heart that God gives
by the Holy Spirit. It's the mind, the affections,
and the will and the conscience that has been cleansed by the
blood of Christ. Look at it, with a sincere, true, regenerate
heart, in full assurance of faith. Now, what is the full assurance
of faith? A lot of people, when they think about that, they think
about, well, that means that I have enough faith or I believe
enough. No, the full assurance of faith
is described right here. Having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil, a guilty, a legal, a condemned conscience. Now, what is sprinkled? And this is metaphorical language
now. What is sprinkled on the conscience? It's talking about
the application of the knowledge given by God the Holy Spirit
in the new birth through the gospel of the blood of Jesus
Christ satisfying God's justice for all my sins. He took my wrath. He took my hell upon himself
and he drank damnation dry for me. So the full assurance of
faith is the full assurance of looking to Christ and resting
in His righteousness as my only ground of salvation. My hope
is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
And I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus'
name. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
So he says, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience
and our bodies washed with pure water, The pure water there is
a metaphor for the blood of Christ. In other words, it's the blood
of Christ that cleanses me, cleanses my prayers, cleanses my praise,
cleanses my worship. I'm accepted before God in the
beloved. No other way. And whenever I,
in my warfare of the flesh and the spirit, get to thinking that,
oh, I've just had such a good day, and I've done so much good,
now I'm qualified to pray, I've got to repent of that kind of
legalistic, self-righteous thinking, and see myself as I really am,
a sinner, who has nothing to recommend himself to God, except
the righteousness, the blood, of Jesus Christ. He is my hope. This is the ground of salvation. You see, that's the message of
the covenant of grace. That's the message, the gospel
of the covenant of grace, the new covenant. It's the same.
The gospel is the preaching of the terms of that covenant. which says that my whole salvation
is conditioned on Christ, Christ came into the world and fulfilled
those conditions, and I stand before God in Him, washed in
His blood, clothed in His righteousness. That's the new and living way.
All men and women by nature, if left to themselves, will go
the broad road that leads to destruction. That's man's natural
way of thinking. That's man's natural religion.
That's the only way he knows. That's the darkness. That's the
deception. That I can be made right with
God based upon something I do or something I cease to do or
by my sincerity. joining a church, getting baptized,
attending Sunday school. People have all kinds of ways,
even religious ways. It's what Paul said of the Jews. He said, I bear them record.
They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For
they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about
to establish their own, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end, the fulfillment,
the perfection, the finishing of the law, for righteousness
to everyone that believeth." Do you believe? Are you resting
in Him? I hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
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at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia 3-1-7-0-7. Contact us
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today and may the Lord be with you.