Welcome to our program. Now,
today's message is entitled, The Finished Work of Christ. And this is one of the most important
messages I believe you can hear. It's the heart of the gospel.
The gospel concerns the person and the work, the finished work,
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll be preaching from Hebrews
chapter 10 if you'd like to follow along in your Bibles. Now, human
religion false religion is always concerning itself in some way
or form or fashion with a work that is yet to be done, done
by the sinner, salvation conditioned on the sinner, something in the
future to be done, something to attain, something to achieve. But the religion of grace, the
religion of the gospel, is the message of the person of Christ,
who He is. He is both God and man in one
person. 100% God, 100% Word, and 100%
man in everything attribute of deity. He's the Word of God,
the Word made flesh dwelling among us. So 100% God and 100%
man in one person. And this person, is one who came to this earth
and represented a people. He called them his sheep. They're
called his church. They're called God's elect. And
he performed for those people what they could not do for themselves.
He kept the law perfectly in every jot and tittle. He never
sinned. He did no sin and he knew no
sin. And then, because they themselves were sinners, sinners in Adam,
sinners by practice, sinners by nature, He went to the cross
of Calvary for their sins, having their sins put upon Him legally,
imputed to Him, and He satisfied the justice of God. He paid the
penalty for their sins. He became a curse for them. He
suffered the just for the unjust. He drank damnation dry. He brought
in everlasting righteousness, which demands their salvation
and secures it. One upon which God can be both
a just God and a Savior. Now in all of that, He finished
the work. And salvation, now this is the
message of grace. This is the message of the Gospel.
Salvation is based on the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he hung on the cross, he
said, it's finished. He says that in his high priestly
prayer, he said, I have finished the work which you gave me to
do. The Bible says in Romans 10, 4, Christ is the end of the
law. That word end there means finished.
He finished the law. He kept it perfectly. He satisfied
its demands, justice and precept and penalty, all of it. He said
He loved them unto the end, that is, He loved His own unto the
finishing of the work, the finished work of Christ. So that the proclamation
of the gospel is salvation based upon not a work that you do for
God, but upon a work that He's already done and finished in
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's what these verses
are about in Hebrews chapter 10. Last week we concluded with
verses 9 and 10, but let's read them by way of introduction.
He says, Then said he, verse 9 of Hebrews 10, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. The first refers to the old covenant,
first in time. The second refers to the new
covenant, which Christ established by himself. He established it. He established it by his obedience
unto death for his people. when he finished the work. And
it was established, and he says in verse 10, by the witch will
we are sanctified. Now we who are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. One time
for all whom he represented, his church, his sheep, God's
elect, it's by the will of God that they are sanctified, set
apart, and made holy. wash clean from their sins through
the offering of the body, the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he begins here in verse 10
to show the sufficiency of Christ as compared to the insufficiency
of the Old Covenant priest. Christ, our great High Priest,
is sufficient to finish the work. But the Old Covenant priests,
under the Law of Moses, were not sufficient to finish the
work. Their work was never finished. Their work was never done. You
see, Christ, when He finished the work, the Bible says, He
sat down on the right hand of the Father. It means the work's
done. But those Old Covenant priests in the tabernacle, in
the temple, there was no chairs in there for them to sit down,
because their work was never done. You see that? Well, look
what he says here, verse 11. He says, and every priest standeth,
not sitteth, but he stands. Got work to be done. He can't
finish it. He stands daily, every day, ministering
or serving and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, the blood
of animals, over and over again, which can never take away sins. It's insufficient to do so. Animal
blood cannot, he said it earlier in Romans and Hebrews 10, the
blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin. The law
having a shadow of good things to come could never make the
worshipers perfect. That priesthood, they had to
offer sacrifices, they had to bring blood. The high priest
had to come into the holiest of all one time a year, but he
had to do it every year. When he was done, that year he
had to look forward to the next year. Couldn't sit down. It was
never finished. So they stood. And they offered
daily, ministering, serving, serving, serving, oftentimes
the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But what
about Christ? Now there's the insufficiency
of the old covenant priesthood. But look at verse 12. But this
man, after he had offered one sacrifice, not many, But one
sacrifice for sins, the sins of his people, forever. This is one sacrifice for sins
that lasts forever. It has an eternal quality about
it. It has an eternal sufficiency
about it. Blood of animals didn't have
that. But only what Christ did, because he's God. He's God and
man in one person. And what he did lasts for eternity. His finished work last throughout
eternity. That's the blood of the Lamb
of God. And he says, he says, this man offered one sacrifice
for sins forever. And look here, it says in verse
12, he sat down on the right hand of God. He sat down because
the work was finished. Righteousness was established.
The blood of the covenant was shed. He died the death. And we're washed in his blood.
That's what he's talking about. He sat down because the work's
done. Now where did he sit down? It says at the right hand of
God. That's the right hand of acceptance. That's the right hand of authority.
Back during the days of the Jewish court, the Jewish Sanhedrin,
whenever they would bring a criminal to be judged by the court, there
was the judge, the head man, And on each side of that head
man there was a scribe, a scribe on the right hand and a scribe
on the left hand. Scribes were ones who wrote down
the law, wrote down the commentaries, wrote down what happened. And
when they bring a man who was accused of a crime before the
judge, they would bring up their witnesses and then the judges
would make a decision whether the man was either guilty or
not guilty. If the man was guilty, The scribe
on the left hand would write it down and record it, and then
the judge would pass sentence. But if the man was declared not
guilty, the scribe on the right hand would record it, and the
man would be exonerated and set free. Well, Christ sat down on
the right hand of His Father. You know why He sat there? Because
all whom He represented were declared not guilty in Him. And they were set free. And in
time they experienced that in the liberation of the new birth
when they see Christ and Him crucified. That's what the finished
work of Christ means. Paul said, I strive to know nothing
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What does that
mean? The finished work of Christ. He said over in Galatians 6.14,
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. What is that cross? It's the
finished work of Christ. It's His righteousness which
is imputed to every sinner for whom He died. And they will come
to believe in Him as a result. Well, he goes on. Now, that's
the insufficiency of the old covenant priesthood and the sufficiency
of Christ. But look here, he goes on. Read
verse 12 again. He says, this man, this glorious
man, This great, great person, man of sorrows, what a name,
for the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah,
what a Savior. This glorious man, who is God. After he had offered that one
sacrifice, that one powerful sacrifice of himself, his own
blood, for sins, not his own, but the sins of his people, forever
sat down on the right hand of God, verse 13, from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." Now that
verse there speaks of a forced submission of the enemies of
Christ. They will be made his footstool. You see, all for whom he died,
those whom he sanctified through the offering of his body, those
whom he offered himself as one sacrifice for sins, Those whom
he represented when he went to the cross and was buried and
rose again the third day, those whom he represented when he sat
down at the right hand of the Father, they won't be his footstool. They'll bow to him at his feet
willingly. They'll be his subjects. But
here, his enemies, now who are his enemies? All who refuse to
rest in the finished work of Christ. All who are going about
trying to establish a righteousness of their own and they've not
submitted themselves unto Christ, the very righteousness of God.
My friend, if you're trying to work your way into God's favor
by your law keeping, if you're seeking God's favor based upon
anything that proceeds from yourself, anything other than the blood
and the righteousness of Christ, His finished work, you're an
enemy of Christ. Alienated, an enemy in your mind
by wicked work. And I plead with you, I beg you
to bow to the claims of Christ. Bow to Him, submit to Him, rest
in Him, because if you die in your sins, you'll be His footstool. His enemies will be forced to
bow, and they'll perish. And that's what he's talking
about. And then he concludes this section here, talking about
the sufficiency of Christ. He says, for by one offering,
whose offering? His. And what was the offering?
His own blood, for by one offering He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified." Now, what that means is this. By the one
offering of Jesus Christ of Himself for His people, He hath perfected. He, listen, that means He saved
them to the uttermost. He shed His blood for their sins,
and He washed their sins clean. He did it now. You see, this
is based upon His work, finished work, not my work. This is based
upon what Christ did for His people, not what they do for
Him. It's the measure of love, love
of God. Herein is love. Not that we love
God, but that He loved us and gave His Son to be the propitiation,
the reconciliation. for our sins. You see, by His
one offering, Christ hath perfected. He performed the work. He established
righteousness. He made an end of sin. He brought
in everlasting righteousness, whereupon God could be just and
justify, and it's forever. It's not just a one-time thing
that has an end. It's not continual, as it has
to be done over and over again. But the one offering has eternal
power and implications to save His people from their sins. And
who are they? Them that are sanctified. Those who are set apart by God
in Christ. Is He your Savior? Is He your
sacrifice for sin? His finished work. Now, the next
section talks about the testimony of the Holy Spirit. You know,
you hear a lot about the Holy Spirit today. what he does, why
he does it, how you know you've got the dwelling of the Holy
Spirit. Right here, in these verses, is the main work of the
Holy Spirit. Christ spoke of it in John chapter
16 when he was talking to his disciples about the Comforter.
The Holy Spirit is the Comforter of the breath. How does he comfort
sinners? By pointing sinners to Christ,
who is our comfort, our peace, our consolation. And it says
in John 16 that the Holy Spirit shall not speak of himself, but
he will glorify Christ. He will take the things of Christ
and show them unto his people, show them unto you. And this
is what this is talking about. Now we're talking about the finished
work of Christ. And here's what I want you to
see. The first evidence of the Holy Spirit's work within a sinner
in the new birth, in the giving of spiritual life, is to show
that sinner his sinfulness, his depravity and his wretchedness,
and to drive that sinner to Christ for all of salvation. Christ
finished work alone. So here it is in verse 15. And
he gives these testimonies of God the Holy Spirit. It says,
Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that
he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with
them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws
into their hearts." That's the word of God. It will be written
on their heart, and the law of God as established in Christ. You see, written on the heart
means he gives you a desire and a love for it. Not in order to
be saved, but as we see it fulfilled in Christ. He said here, I will
put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write
them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now,
what he's doing here, he's quoting from the Scripture, because that's
the Holy Spirit's testimony. You see, the Word of God from
Genesis to Revelation is God-breathed. It's verbally inspired. This
is the Word of God, written by the Spirit. He used men as instruments. All these 66 books of the Bible,
well, they're all about Christ. And they all point sinners to
Christ. This book is like a mirror that
exposes my sinfulness, but it shows me the remedy, not in the
law in my works, but in Christ and his finished work alone.
So here we have the testimony of the Holy Spirit. How do we
have that testimony? In the Scriptures. He quotes
here from Jeremiah 31. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of
a time when the Holy Spirit would come and write the law in the
hearts of his people. In other words, in the old covenant,
that law was given to a rebellious people and it was a burden and
an imposition to them. It was just written on stone
or with ink. But here, it's going to be written
on the heart. Now why? Because if you turn
to Christ, that law is written on your heart. That's what it
is. You see, the law without Christ
is nothing but a burden. And listen, it's deadly. Do you
hear what I'm saying? The law without Christ. I've
heard people say, well, my hope is to keep the Ten Commandments.
Now listen to me. Those Ten Commandments will be
your downfall. Because without Christ, who fulfilled
the law and finished the work, who satisfied law and justice
and brought in righteousness, that law pronounces a curse upon
even the best of sinners. write it in their minds, His
word, and I'll write them. And God says in verse 17, their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more. You see, the testimony
of the Holy Spirit in His office and work, it is His office and
His work to show sinners how Christ and Him crucified is their
only hope. And He writes it in the hearts
of His people. And He says, their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. You know, People are good at
remembering our sins. Sometimes we're good at remembering
our own sins. We keep bringing them up and
up again. But God says, I'll remember them no more. He separated
us from our sins as far as east is from the west. What does that
mean? Well, it simply means this. God
no more charges our sins to us. He charged them to Christ. The
Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 in verse 19, that God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. Who is the world
there? Not imputing their trespasses unto them. When Christ was on
that cross, God imputed the sins of his people to Christ, and
he imputed his righteousness to us. All the Old Testament
saints, all the New Testament believers, all of them, and therefore
God legally legally will not charge them with their sins.
That's what this means when he says, I'll remember them no more.
I will not hold them against you. The psalmist said, in Psalm
130, he said, O Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities,
who would stand? Well, obviously none of us would. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. But he went on to say this, he
says, but there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mightest
be just when thou judgest. Where is that forgiveness? It's
in Christ. And if I'm in Christ, God does
not remember my sins anymore. You see, God looks at me in Christ,
washed in his blood, clothed in his righteousness imputed.
Now, at the end of this, he gives a conclusion, and it's a grand
conclusion. It's a great conclusion. It's
one that we can live in, and one that we can rest in. And
it's in verse 18. He says, now, where remission
of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Now, I want
you to think about this in several ways. First of all, he says now
where remission is. What is remission? That means
the remission of sins. We preach the remission of sins
by the blood of Christ. We don't preach remission of
sins by baptism. You know, there's a denomination
that takes a verse out of Acts chapter 2 and talks about the
remission of sins when you're baptized. But that verse doesn't
say that. That verse says that we're baptized
for the remission of sins by Jesus Christ our Lord. The remission
of sins refers to Christ, not our baptism. You see, baptism,
believers' baptism, is merely a confession of what has already
taken place. As Christ has washed me from
my sins, and as I see that by the power of the new birth. But
where remission is, where the forgiveness of sins, the cleansing
of sins, where the guilt and defilement of sins is totally
removed, there is no more offering for sin. Now look at it in two
ways. If you reject Christ and His
finished work, His blood, His righteousness, His work of reconciliation,
then you are left with no hope, no offering for sin. That was
Cain's problem. You remember the story of Cain
and Abel. Cain brought the fruit of the
ground, the works of his hands. Well, he has no offering. He
rejected the blood of the land. Abel brought the blood of sacrifice.
Cain brought the offering of his own hands, his own works.
Cain and Abel, you remember the story. Why did God receive Abel's
offering and not Cain's? Because Abel's offering was the
blood of sacrifice which honored God and pointed to Christ. But Cain's offering was the works
of his own wretched, rotten hands, the works of a sinner, and they
deny Christ. They deny the glory of God. Well,
when Cain said, I'm going to bring my works, he found himself
with no more offering for sin. There's nothing else, no offering
at all. So if you reject Christ, there
is no more offering for sin. But if you receive Christ, if
you rest in Him, there's no more offering. You don't need anything
more. You see, that's the second way. You don't need anything
other than Him. Anything more than Him is heresy. And that's
what people need to see. Back in the book of Galatians,
there were false preachers that crept into the church and tried
to add their works to the work of Christ. But you see, the work
of Christ is a finished work, and nothing can be added to it.
Anything that you seek to add to Christ and His finished work
is a denial of Christ. You see, that's why Paul wrote
in Galatians 2.21, he said, I do not frustrate the grace of God
if righteousness come by law, my works of the law, then Christ
died in vain. But that's not so, you see, Christ
didn't die in vain and righteousness doesn't come by our works, it
comes by His finished works. Let me read you a verse in Daniel,
the book of Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24. This is a verse, this
is a prophecy of the Messiah. And listen to how he describes
the mission of the Messiah. He starts out with 70 weeks are
determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city. Now that's
talking about the time of the Messiah doing his work of reconciliation. And listen to how he describes
it in these phrases. First, to finish the transgression. He's going to finish the transgression.
Secondly, to make an end of sins. Sin's not going to make an end
of Him. He's going to make an end of sins. You see, He did
die, but He arose again the third day. He's seated at the right
hand of the Father, making intercession for His people. Next, to make
reconciliation for iniquity. What is reconciliation? It's
peace between God and sinners. And then next, to bring in everlasting
righteousness. You see it? He's going to finish
the transgression, make an end of sins, make reconciliation
for iniquity, and bring in everlasting righteousness. Sin demands death. Righteousness demands life. That's
the righteousness of Christ. And then it says to seal up the
vision in prophecy. And then, of course, all that
God revealed is sealed up, finds its completion and fulfillment
in revelation, in Christ and Him crucified, and to anoint
the Most Holy, to anoint Him as King of kings and Lord of
lords." You see, this is all language that speaks of Christ's
finished work. And as we go up there to that
verse 14 of Hebrews 10 again, read it again, "...for by one
offering He hath perfected forever than that are sanctified." That's
the finished work of Christ. That's the powerful work that
He accomplished on behalf of His people. Don't look anywhere
else. Don't go to religion, denomination,
baptism, tithing. Don't go to these things to recommend
yourself unto God. Rest in Christ. Rest in His finished
work. Submit to His blood and His righteousness
as that which alone saves you. and keeps you and demands your
entire salvation. You don't need anything else
but Him. That's what the scripture says. We've said it before. If
you want righteousness, don't look for it in yourself. Don't
look for it in your church. Look for it in Christ. He is
righteousness. If you want wisdom, don't look
for it in yourself. Don't look for it in the colleges
and universities. Look for it in Christ. He is
wisdom. If you want holiness, Don't look
for it in yourself or by your works or by what you do. Don't
look for it in your pedigree or in your denominator. Look
to Christ. He is holiness. If you want redemption from your
sins, don't look to anything you can pay or anything you can
do. Look to Christ, because He is redemption. And it's His finished
work. It's not our work for Him. It's
His work for His people. Are you one of them? Believe
in Him. and thou shalt be saved. That's what the scripture teaches
in this mission and message of Christ the Messiah, his person
and his word.