I direct your prayer for attention
this morning to Hebrews chapter 10 and reading through our text,
verse 12. Verse 12, but this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God. Hebrews 10 and verse 12. I hope whenever we come before
the Word of God and hear it preached, that we are mindful that what
we are to hear has to do with our own soul and has to do with
our eternal destiny, eternal peace and happiness, or most
solemnly our eternal destruction. How we need to realize that those
things that we hear are to be personally applied. They will affect, if the Lord
applies it and blesses it to us, they'll affect our walk,
they'll affect our conduct, They have eternal consequences. In our text, it speaks of sins,
and every one of us are sinners. All of us are bound up with the
need of what is provided here for sinners. The whole Word of God, it makes
known sin, And it makes known how God deals with sin, and how
he has made his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, sin,
and laid on him the iniquity of all of his dear people. Throughout
the Word of God, from the first promise in the Garden of Eden,
there is a pointing to one and one only sacrifice to put away
sin. It wasn't just a pointing in
word, but it was a pointing in deed. It was a pointing in those
sacrifices that were offered in the temple, and before that,
even from Abel's day, offerings, a lamb slain, blood shed on an
altar that was pointing to the one sacrifice our Lord Jesus
Christ would offer at Calvary. Prophecies in word also pointed
to that same one sacrifice. Also the temples, the first temple
especially, was pointing to our Lord. Our Lord said, destroy
this temple and in three days I'll raise it up again. And he
was speaking of the temple of his body. In Solomon's dedication
of the temple, in his prayer he prayed that those that looked
toward that place, that the Lord would hear their prayer. When
the temple itself was destroyed, Daniel was looking from Babylon
to that place, offering his prayers three times a day. The temple
itself set forth our Lord Jesus Christ. And so in many ways,
this one sacrifice and the one that offered it was pointed to
over some 4,000 years. It was very, very important for
the Jews especially, to realise that those many, many sacrifices,
and those many, many priests that offered them, never ever
put away one sin. They were pointing to one sacrifice,
and those that offered in faith, they offered believing that God
would provide His only begotten Son and that he should put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. And so this really is the message
of Hebrews, showing how much our Lord Jesus was superior to
any of the Old Testament priests. His sacrifice, the one sacrifice,
not the many that went before him. showing them the basis,
the ground, that they should cease those ceremonial sacrifices
and believe and trust solely in the Lord Jesus Christ. So
our text, it begins with a but, so it is a contrast with that
which is gone before, and the immediate verse that is before,
speaks of the many priests and many sacrifices, and that they
could not take away sins. In a very stark contrast, and
every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes these
same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man,
Jesus Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
that which he did upon Calvary's tree, the cross, sat down on
the right hand of God, which he did, after he had risen from
the dead, appeared to the disciples for forty days, and then ascended
up bodily into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God. This
is the contrast, and this is the message that is set before
us here. So I want to, with the Lord's
help, add this word. Firstly, this man, but this man. Then secondly, his offering,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever. And then thirdly, after his offering,
sat down on the right hand of God. But firstly we have but
this man. It's hard to compute exactly,
but from Aaron, Aaron was the first high priest of the Jewish
nation and people, and there followed some Sikhs that led
up to Solomon's temple and then some 18 that served in that,
and 60 that followed after. So some 84 priests that offered
sacrifices, as summarized in the first few verses of Hebrews
chapter 5. And we'll read those because
the first four verses, they give us this summary of the high priest,
and then lead to our Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 5 and verse 1, for every
high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things
pertaining to God that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices
for sins. Who can have compassion on the
ignorant and on them that are out of the way, for that he himself
also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought,
as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honour
unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. And so in those four verses,
We have a picture of those high priests. One thing that was so
important that it was God that called them to that office and
they followed along that line of Aaron. It is very important
that they should be able to offer gifts and sacrifice for sins. It is very important that they
should be able to sympathize and have compassion on those
for whom they were offering those offerings. And so as being sinners
themselves, they also had to offer for themselves as well
as for the sins of others. Then in verse five, we have the
comparison with their Lord. So also Christ glorified not
himself to be made an high priest, but he that said unto him, Thou
art my Son, today have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another
place, Psalm 110, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. It's vital that our Lord Jesus
Christ is clearly shown to be chosen of God, approved of God,
appointed by God, as the Great High Priest, not in the line
of Aaron, but given direct from God. And so, what we have in
our text But this man. We have a contrast with Aaron
and all the priests that followed. Those priests, they could not
continue ever. They must, a necessity, die. And so there was many of them.
But the Lord Jesus Christ is one. And his priesthood is an
everlasting, eternal priesthood. A great contrast with those priests. But this man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, was sinless and spotless. He had no sin. He did not need
to offer for himself. He was spotless, the eternal
God. that this man, the reality that
the eternal God was made flesh and dwelt among us, Immanuel
God with us, is a vital thing. That God's provision that Abraham
said to his son Isaac, my son, God will provide himself a lamb
for a burnt offering, was indeed made flesh and dwelt among us. And the text beautifully says
this for this man. No other man like him ever walked
the face of this earth. No other man was sinless. No
other man was God and man in one person. No other man had
the witness of God himself. This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. But this man, how our attention is drawn to
one man. On the Mount of Transfiguration,
when our Lord was here below, there appeared to the disciples
a vision of Moses and Elias speaking with Jesus, and they were speaking
of what he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Speaking of the
one sacrifice that was before our Lord, a cloud covered them. And when the cloud was lifted
up, the disciples, they saw no man, but Jesus only. Moses representing the Lord,
representing the moral and the ceremonial law, but Elijah representing
the prophets and all pointing to our Lord Jesus Christ and
to the one offering that he was to make, Jesus only. That's all they saw. And that
is to be the message for the Church of God. The truth is in
Jesus. Our Lord said, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. This man is unlike the priests
that were priests and then took the blood of bulls and of goats
to offer. This man, he offered himself. He was the offering and he was
the offerer. In the Old Testament, the offering
had to be a lamb that was without blemish and without spot. Our
Lord was that lamb, the paschal lamb, the lamb offered at the
day of Passover, the lamb that was shed, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. and this man. The whole design
of the Word of God and the Apostle here in Hebrews is to exalt and
to lift up and extol our Lord Jesus Christ. Right from the
beginning of time, there have been men that have risen up and
have tried to take the glory away from God, draw it to themselves,
lift up themselves. The Apostle says we preach not
ourselves, but Jesus the Lord. It is so vital that there is
discernment for all who gather, all that hear the word preached,
that they never follow a man as a preacher, but they follow
this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, and only follow a preacher or
a man on earth as far as he follows Christ. The Apostle Paul says,
Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. This man. It's often in this
way we can tell truth from error. It is that no flesh might glory
in his presence, but in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. John, when he writes his epistles,
writes in very, very strong terms of those that do not bring this
doctrine, the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ, coming in
the flesh. Any doctrine, any teaching that
diminishes his glory, his work, his person, is not of God. You may rightly say we can never
extol the Lord enough. We can never be in danger of
ascribing to Him what does not belong to Him. He has been given
a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow. It hath pleased the Father that
in Him should all fullness dwell. He is highly exalted. He is sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God on high. This man, may the Lord Jesus
Christ be made precious to us, be the object of all our desire
and all of our hope and all of our expectation. Jonah said in
the whale's belly, salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord
spake unto the fish and it vomited Jonah out onto dry ground. That salvation is in our Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the salvation of God. There is none other name given
among men whereby we must be saved. We must ask ourselves
in this, what is this man to us? How often do we think of
him? How often do we meditate upon
him? How often do we feel a love to
him? A drawing to him? How often do we defend him? Now Lord said, who so shall be
offended or ashamed of me and of my word, of him shall my father
be ashamed before the angels and those in heaven. It is the Lord Jesus Christ,
the incarnate word and the written word are the same. There are many that will say,
well, we believe in Jesus, but they rise up against the Word
of God, against the Holy Bible. How vital that we realize the
two are the same. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God is inspired Word
of God. Our Lord said, heaven and earth
shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. And every
word of God is pure. It is Christ in all the scriptures. Those things concerning himself
were what he spoke to those two on the way to Emmaus. They were
about this man, this high priest, this redeemer, this real man. and real God. This one that all
of the other high priests pointed to, this one man that had been
typified in so many ways, but now is known to the Church of
God. He has been given a name, a name
which is above every name. and He's clearly known to us
to be set before us. We are to preach the word. We
are to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified, this man, but
this man. Well, may the Lord give us to
believe in His name, to trust in Him, to look unto Him. Look unto me, our Lord says,
and be ye saved. All the ends there is none else. I want to
then look secondly at his offering. That this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, his offering. We have already
said that with the high priest that had gone before, their offering
were of bulls and of goats. That is what is set before us
in the previous verses. In verse four, for it is it not
possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away
sins. Wherefore when he bringeth into
the world, when he cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice
and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared
me. In the womb of the Virgin Mary
the Holy Ghost overshadowed her, and that which was conceived
in her was that Holy Thing, the Son of God. God became flesh
and dwelt among us, and that is why it is not by usual generation
that our Lord did not partake, though He took part of flesh
and blood, and in the womb of the Virgin He did not partake
of the sin. Job had puzzled over that in
his day. How can a clean thing come out
of it unclean. But it is revealed in the Gospel,
according to Matthew and Luke, how it was that Mary was of child
of the Holy Ghost. And so that offering was then as a lamb without blemish and
without spot, that one offering he was to offer. When Peter charged upon the Jews
the crucifixion of our Lord, he said this, him that was delivered
by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of God, Ye have
taken and by wicked hands crucified and slain. He points to the eternal
purpose of God. He points to the plan being of
God. We read in Psalm 22, penned a
thousand years before Christ suffered and before he offered
that one sacrifice, His cry upon the cross, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? We read that a bone of him shall
not be broken. We read of his utterances, I
thirst. We read that they had pierced
his hands and his feet. The very particulars and details
of that offering were told a thousand years before. It was determined
by God that it should be so. When our Lord was in the Garden
of Gethsemane, the disciples with him, and Judas came, Judas
Iscariot, and the Jews, and Judas betrayed the Lord, and they apprehended
him. Peter, with the sword he cut
off the ear of the high priest's servant, He sought to stop what
was happening. But our Lord stayed him, healed
the high priest's servant. Put up thy sword within thy sheath,
the cup that my father hath given me to drink, shall I not drink
it? Thinkest thou not that I may
pray my father, and he will presently give me twelve legion of angels? But how then? should the scripture
be fulfilled. The legion is 6,000, 72,000 angels. But our Lord did not resist.
In Isaiah 53, 700 or so years before Christ, we read that he
is led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers
is done. so he openeth not his mouth. Pilate said to him, as he judged
him in the judgment hall, thinkest thou not that I have power to
release thee, or power to crucify thee? And our Lord's answer to
him was, thou couldst have no power at all against me, except
it were given thee from above. And though the Jews were guilty,
in all that they did. Yet the Lord went as it was appointed
and as it was determined. And that sacrifice that was offered
at Calvary was a willing sacrifice, because if the Lord was not willing,
he could have prayed his Father, he could have resisted, even
when they came to take him in the garden. He said, Whom seek
ye? And they went and they fell backward. The power that was there, they
had no power to apprehend him. If someone is very strong, and
they're apprehended by another person or people, and they don't
exert that strength, they don't resist, they don't deliver themselves
when they could have, then it makes it that they are willing
They're going willingly. Because if they were unwilling,
they could easily overcome those that came against them. And our
Lord said, I lay down my life of myself. I have power to lay
it down. I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. No man taketh my life from me. When our Lord did yield up his
breath upon the cross, it was with a strong cry, Father, into
thy hands I commit my spirit. They marvelled that he was dead
already, dead before the thieves were. And that's why instead
of breaking his legs, his side was pierced. they shall look
upon him whom they have pierced. Our text says that he offered
one sacrifice for sins forever. The contrast is that those many
sacrifices, and you've only got to read the Passover sacrifices
that were offered by Solomon in the temple, and the dedication
of the temple, Josiah, Hezekiah, hundreds and hundreds of thousands
of bullocks and of rams that were sacrificed in the history
of Israel. And yet none of them put away
sin. And the apostle here, he says
that as they were continually offered He said, if they really
did put away sin, why were they continually being offered? It
is because they weren't putting away sin. They weren't putting
an end to it. He says in verse 3, but in those
sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. Constant reminder. Sin is there. Sin must be put away. There is
a provision. It is yet coming. But those with
faith, they look to Him. They look for Him. They died
like Abel in the faith that Christ would come, that He would shed
His precious blood. But this blood is better than
that of Abel, is better than that of the It is the spotless blood of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And the emphasis here it is one
offering, one sacrifice for sins forever. This is what the dear
martyrs held so dearly. They claimed to that. You can
see in this passage the contrast. Those Old Testament priests,
The reason why they had to continually offer it was sin wasn't put away
yet. But with the Lord it is one sacrifice
for sins forever. Why did they offer them so continually? A remembrance of sins. But with our Lord, the Lord has
given to the Church of God the ordinance of the Lord's Supper.
This too in remembrance of me. As oft as ye do eat this bread
and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death till he
come. It is not showing forth sin unatoned
for, it is showing forth sin atoned for, put away, a one offering. And the blasphemous mass of the
Roman Catholic Church is set forth as another offering. And that is why the martyrs so
resisted him and would not give in to that terrible error, because
it undermined, it took away the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that at Calvary the sins of every one of his dear people,
right from Abel right to the last one that shall be called,
all their sins were laid upon him there. If you and I are saved,
if our sins are put away, they were laid on the Lord Jesus Christ
and born away at Calvary, atonement made for them, the price paid
without the shedding of blood, there is no remission, the price
paid then, that one sacrifice for sins forever. And in the
Lord's Supper we remember that, as if it is rehearsed to us again
and again, Forever, forever. We're not remembering sins that
are unatoned for, but sins that are atoned for and are put away. Why does the Church of God need
to be reminded of this? We're still sinners by nature. Sin does live in us, but by the
grace of God, may we not live in sin. That the Lord make a
difference and set us free from the captivity of sin. It plagues us, it troubles us,
it brings us low, it grieves us, and should rightly do so.
But it cannot condemn us, it cannot have dominion over us,
because the Lord Jesus Christ has put away sin. Luther, when
he stood up against the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church,
and he had the A vision, a vision of Satan coming to him with a
picture of all his sins, this great long list of all his sins. And he owned it, he said, yes,
these are all my sins. But right on the bottom, the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth from all sin. And the devil was gone. He can't
answer, he has no reply to that. The first promise was, the seed
of the woman shall bruise thy hand, Satan's head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel. Our Lord did suffer in offering
for sin. He laid down his life to take
it again. But may we view in that sacrifice
at Calvary all that we as poor sinners need, all that God has
done to deal with sin, the sin of his people, by taking it,
bearing it away, making atonement for it, and redeeming us from
it. So we have his offering. And then lastly we have after
his offering, sat down on the right hand of God. With those priests, after their
offerings, they offered them again and again. And then it came to be that the
priest died and they never offered again. They had no power to do
any good on earth anymore. We gain the idea that those who
have died are saints and that have some power to influence
those on earth or to be a blessing or should be prayed to. It is
blasphemous teaching. It completely undermines the
one glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. After His offering, He sat down,
we know that He offered on Calvary, that perfect offering, and then
after three days He rose again from the dead. That was the assurance,
that was the evidence, that was the proof that the sins were
put away that were laid on Him. He hath given assurance unto
all men in that He hath raised Him from the dead. Appearing to the disciples for
40 days, many witnesses, 500 brethren at once, he told in
1 Corinthians 15. But then he ascended up into
heaven. The disciples saw him taken up. The Spirit of the Lord rested
on them. He said, I will pray the Father,
He will give you another comforter which shall abide with you forever,
tarry at Jerusalem until you've been endued with power from on
high. And in the day of Pentecost,
another 10 days later, the Holy Spirit fell. And we read the
disciples then, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, preached
with great power and authority amongst the people. They were
miracles, miracles of healing and of raising the dead. And
many thousands were converted, many thousands were brought to
savingly believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, to continue
in the word of God and with the apostles in being baptised and
breaking of bread in the Lord's Supper. Our Lord sitting down
indicates His finished work. He had finished the work that
His Father gave Him to do upon the cross, upon this earth. But
there is a work in heaven. He is our Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the Righteous. He is our Great High Priest still
in heaven. He still lives. He still is able
and is beautifully set forth in the earlier chapters of Hebrews. In the end of chapter 2, we read,
Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God. to make reconciliation for the
sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered
being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. After his offering, how different
than after the offering of all of those other priests. There
is an after, there is a sympathising, there is an appearing in the
presence of God for us. There is a voice that speaks
for us in heaven's high court for good. We can read to the
prayers and the intercession of our Lord in John 17, which
he made on earth. Father, I will that they whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory. Those intercessions he makes
still above. When Stephen, the first master,
was stoned, then As he died, he looked up and he testified
of seeing the Lord standing in heaven, ready to receive him.
From a sitting position, standing to receive one of his people. We read in John chapter 14, I
go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place
for you, I'll come again. and receive you unto myself that
where I am, there ye may be also. There is the Lord standing to
receive Stephen unto himself in the hour and article of death
to seeing the Lord Jesus Christ. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down in the right hand of
God. He is there now. He is there
appearing in the presence of God for us. There is still that
He makes intercession, that He appears for His people, and that
He is the author of the work in their hearts through the Spirit.
Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. I
send the promise of my Father upon you. How vital we need that
work of the Holy Spirit, who shall receive, says our Lord
and mine, and shall reveal it unto you. No man can say that
Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost, and it is the Holy Ghost
that reveals the Lord Jesus Christ to his people. Peter says, unto
you which believe, He is precious. Who is precious? This man. He
is precious. In the sacrifice he is offered,
he is precious as our friend above. A friend that lives to
carry on his people's cause above. Well, may we, in the word before
us this morning, have our Lord made precious to us. May we see
afresh the sufficiency of His sacrifice, putting away sin forever. May we see Him as the living
Saviour, one who lives forever, not on the cross anymore, not
in the grave, not an image, but the living Saviour above. He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God. May we be of those that at last
we see him. The word is very clear, they
shall see him and his name shall be upon their foreheads. The
Lord grant us that great mercy and great blessing and a real
felt interest in this one offering and one sacrifice for sin and
in our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.