If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, and I
really, really hope this is a very familiar piece of scripture,
passage. Hebrews chapter 10, beginning
in verse 10. By the witch will, we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. I'm just gonna stop right there,
because I could keep going. I don't know if I've said this
before here or not, but even if I have, I'm gonna say it again.
Jesus Christ is not a wannabe Lord. He wants to be Lord, but you
won't let him, is what I mean. He is not, Jesus Christ, is not
a want-to-be Savior. He wants everybody to be saved,
but you won't let him. I've seen signs to that effect. Walter's seen the same sign.
Gilbert, West Virginia, right on the side of a bridge. A homemade
sign. Let Jesus Christ save you. Well,
who's stopping him? Who's stopping him? Because he
is Lord and he is Savior whether you know it or not, whether I
know it or not. And Jesus Christ is King, is
Lord, is Savior, and he has redeemed and sanctified and justified
and reconciled and saved all of his people that the Father
gave to him. And here in Hebrews, he tells
us, Paul tells us, or the rite of Hebrews tells us, how he did
it, how he did it. By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. That for all is in there, and
that's okay, but it's once is the word. There's only one sacrifice
because every priest standeth daily ministering and offering
oftentimes multiple sacrifices, which he called for in the Old
Testament, which can never take away sins. But his one sacrifice
took away sins. That's what he's saying. We are
sanctified through the offering, set apart. We believers chosen
in him from before the foundation of the world are sanctified. And that word sanctified is in
the past tense. Now I looked it up in the Greek,
I'm not gonna go into it, but this word sanctification means
being made holy. That's what it means right here.
Now it does also mean being set apart. But tell you this folks,
being made holy, you're set apart. You are set apart. You didn't
do it, I didn't do it, no man did it, He did it. And that's
the title of my message, Paul. Salvation by Christ. Salvation
by Christ. This separation is through the
offering, what? He made. He made. This is not
progressive sanctification. Once. Once. What does it say? Once. We are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. There's nothing
progressive about this sanctification. Now, I do believe wholeheartedly
in growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, but
that's not progressive sanctification. That's you growing up. Trust
me, folks, if you're as dumb now as you were when you were
12, I'd have some bad thoughts about you. I sometimes feel about
as dumb as I did when I was 13, but I'm not. By his grace, he has enabled
me to grow in the grace and knowledge of him. And it's his gift. It's not my work, it's his gift. This is not progressive. This
is, as I said, past tense. Past tense. By the witch will,
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once. Understand, we're sanctified
by his sacrifice. We're sanctified by his offering.
And his offering and sacrifice were not toward us. They were
toward God. He goes on to tell us here. But
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice, four sins, forever
sat down on the right hand of God. from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. This is one of the most wonderful
things I've ever read. I remember reading this for the
first time, because it said what? By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering. And then you get down to verse
14, it says by that same offering. There's only one offering, once,
once. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Them that are sanctified, oh
my. And you know what, that word
perfected, that's in the past tense too. That one offering,
that one offering is past. He's done it, he's not doing
it again. Read Hebrews six. There are people
who want Christ to sacrifice again. No, not gonna happen. There's only one offering for
sin. He has made it. This man, the Lord Jesus Christ,
he offered this offering, this sacrifice. What? The Lord of
hosts is his name. What? The Holy One of Israel
is his name. And the Redeemer is his name. The Redeemer is his name. After
he had offered what? After he had brought his offering
to God past tense again That offering was for specific purpose
That offering was for specific purpose what? sanctified through
the offering, but this man had offered one sacrifice for sins
oh Not even that Forever. Forever. What's that mean? Perpetual. That's what it means.
Perpetual. There's only one sacrifice, four
sins, and it is forever. And you know what? That's exactly
what I needed. And that's exactly what you need.
That one sacrifice, four sins, forever. Oh, there was only one. There was only one sacrifice
and offering of his blood. There was only one sacrifice
offering of his body. And he brought this offering. We don't bring it to God. It's
already been brought. You understand? Isn't that glorious?
It's done. What's the song? It's done. The
great transaction's done. I am my Lord's and he is mine.
Oh, I like that, I do. This offering was for a specific
purpose, the covenant purpose of the Father and the Son. What
did David say? The Lord hath made with me, what? An everlasting covenant. Not only that, it's ordered,
in order, and sure. Oh, in what? In all things. In all things, what? But this
man, after he had offered one sacrifice, four sins, four ever,
sat down on the right hand of God. You understand, I just thought
this when I was sitting there. When Jesus Christ was on the
cross, and Walter, you mentioned this, to thalassize the word. It is finished, that's how it's
translated. You understand, Jesus Christ said it is finished. He
didn't say he was finished, because he's not finished. He's not finished. Right now, he is seated at the
right hand of God, and what's he do? He ever liveth to make
intercession for those he made this offering and sacrifice for. It may be finished, and it was.
He finished the work the Father gave him to do. His sacrifice,
his blood was shed. willingly, ably, and on purpose. Now those took him with wicked
hands and crucified the Lord of glory, but it was done according
to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Why? For
this offering to be made right here. In Hebrews it tells us. There was only one sacrifice
and offering of his blood, and he brought the offering. And this offering was for this
purpose. And also, written here in the past tense, one sacrifice
for sins forever. Forever. Ah, I like that. I said it. It's perpetual. This
is the only offering for sins that the father accepted. And
I'm gonna say that past tense too. Because he's seated at the
right hand of the Father. He sat down. Oh, oh my. Let's be clear. It's his offering. It's his offering. It's not your
offering. It's not your offering. It's
not my offering. It's his offering and he's already offered it to
God. His body was broken for us. His blood was shed for us. It does say that. But here's
the thing. No man except the God-man had
anything at all to do with this offering. The God-man only. Why? He was worthy. He was worthy. He was and is the well-beloved
Son of God. God announced it from heaven. Hear ye him. Hear ye him. Untouched by human hands except
his holy hands, this offering was offered to God once. And
what happened? We are sanctified and we are
perfected forever. In him. Not in ourselves, in
him. In Jesus Christ, the one who
offered it. Matter of fact, John chapter 20 and verse 17,
Jesus told Mary Magdalene, who was the first person to see him
risen from the dead, he said, touch me not, for I am not yet
ascended to my father, but go to my brethren and say unto them,
I ascend unto my father and your father and to my God and to your
God. And he did, and he did. This offering was totally and
completely between the Father and the Son. Now it concerned
us. We are sanctified. We are perfected
forever. But this offering, this sacrifice,
was between God the Father and God the Son. We had nothing to
do with it. Salvation is by Christ. Salvation
by Christ. He, Jesus Christ, finished the
work that the Father gave him to do. Matter of fact, in Hebrews
chapter nine, let's see, verse 11. Excuse me. But Christ, being come and high
priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
Neither by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood
he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal
redemption. And it says for us. And you can
leave that part off. It is for us. But here's the
thing, there is no other redemption. And he's already obtained it.
And he obtained it, what, by this offering by which we are
sanctified and by which we are perfected forever. Oh my, that's
good stuff. That's good news. Our part in redemption, our part in redemption is zero,
none. Redemption has already been obtained.
And it's an eternal, perpetual redemption. Our sanctification
has already been obtained. We are sanctified. And that's
also eternal. And we are perfected forever. Also eternal. And how? By the offering of Jesus Christ
to the Father. Not by what you do with it, but
by the fact that he did it. Now some people find that hard.
Well that's your problem, I'm sorry. I find that is to be gracious. I find that to be the grace of
God. Because I can't do anything. The scripture's clear. Somebody
told, Who was it? Henry was saying it on the message
this morning. He said somebody told Charles
Spurgeon, he said, well, there's salvation in this book somewhere,
so I'm gonna dive in until I find it. I'm gonna tell you something.
There's salvation everywhere in this book. And it's all in
Christ. And none of it, none of it is
in you unless he put it there. Unless he put it there. Jesus
Christ finished the work. He became a high priest. He was
a high priest, and he still is. He entered, what does it say
in chapter nine? Verse 12, neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered once into
the holy place. What? Having obtained eternal
redemption for us. What's that mean? He entered
and he obtained. He entered and he obtained it. And he entered that holy place
by his own blood. Christ is our salvation. Salvation is of, from the Lord. He obtained eternal redemption,
therefore we have eternal redemption. What's that mean? perfect perpetual
Redemption. Oh, I like that. Well in him
in him not in ourselves not in ourselves This flesh is just
as flesh as it always was But in him we have eternal redemption
we have Now, let me be clear. I'm just gonna give you four
things. I'm not gonna keep you long There are things we do as believers
I'm not denigrating that, I'm not throwing off on that. I'm
just gonna mention four here in particular. Number one, we
hold to the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers do. Number two, we
joy in Christ Jesus. Number three, we trust Christ's
blood and sacrifice offering to God. And number four, we believe
by faith of Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ. Now those are four things
that we do, but here's the thing, we do those four things by the
working of his mighty power. We don't do them in and of ourselves.
We don't work it up to where we believe in Christ or lay hold
on him. But these things we do because God works in you both
to will and to do of his good pleasure. Now, I wanna be plain. I'm not denigrating these four
things at all. I glorify God because of them because he's
given them to me and to you if you know Christ. But here, these
things are necessary. They're vital. This book tells
us. We are to believe the gospel. It's not an option, we're told,
we're actually ordered to believe the gospel. But here it is, these
things are necessary, these things are vital, and these things are
the right thing to do because Christ said so. But here's the thing, we hold
to the Lord Jesus Christ, our holding to the Lord Jesus Christ
does not save us. Christ saves, Christ saves. Joy, your joy in Christ Jesus
does not save you. It's Christ that saves. Our trust in Christ's blood offering,
sacrifice, doesn't save us. He saves. He saves. Our faith, our believing in Christ
Jesus through his faith, which is his gift, and he's the creator,
the author and finisher of faith, Our faith doesn't save us, Christ
saves, Christ saves. Understand, if you look in Hebrews
9 and 10, you'll see these things. He took away the first that he
may establish the second. Talking about covenants. He entered
the holy place by his own blood, with his own blood, and he obtained
in the holy place eternal redemption for his people. Salvation is
by Christ. We, his people, are sanctified,
what? Through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once. Salvation is by Christ. He had
offered one sacrifice, four sins, forever, and he sat down. And by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that he sanctified. So you understand, he offered,
he obtained, he sacrificed even before that, and he perfected
forever. He sanctified, he perfected forever. Salvation is by Christ Jesus
alone. We rest in him, we believe him,
we are saved by him and in him alone. And this Lord, this Jesus
Christ, is my salvation. He is my salvation. The Lord
Jesus Christ. Here's the thing. The only people
who actually ever come to know any of this are sinners. Are sinners. That song John Newton wrote,
Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll
give you rest. My yoke's easy, my burden's light,
and you'll find rest for your souls. But if you're not laboring,
and if you're not heavy laden, you're not gonna come. He came to save sinners. He came
to save sinners. Here's the thing, folks, he did. He did. He did save sinners. Oh my. Here's the thing. We are utterly
and completely dependent upon him. That's it. We are utterly and
completely dependent upon Jesus Christ. Because salvation is
by Christ. His sacrifice, His offering,
His sanctification, His redemption, and His perfection. Oh, I like
that. Revelation 1-5 puts it this way.
And from Jesus Christ, who is a faithful witness, and the first
begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth,
here it is, this is a beautiful thing, unto him that loved us. What? And washed us from our
sins in his own blood. Oh my. Salvation is by Christ. Salvation is by Christ. He made
us holy and complete in himself by the one offering of himself
to God. And we are And this is just one
of them oh my thoughts. It's like, whoa. Sanctified and
perfected forever in his eternal redemption. And it's all his
gift. It's all his gift. To everyone
that the Father gave him. And he's given it out. And matter
of fact, one of the beautiful things, he actually lets us know
this. so that we can rejoice in him.
We don't rejoice in him like we should. We don't rejoice in
him as much as we should, or as often as we should. But oh
my, believers have cause for rejoicing in Christ Jesus, because
he is our salvation. Our Heavenly Father, we are thankful
again for this place, this time, And Lord, what you've given to
us to be able to gather here together, to try and preach your
name, to hear of your gospel, your glory, and your work and
your will in this world and in our hearts, in our minds, and
in our lives, you have given us so much we don't understand.
We don't know the depth or the height of all that you've given
to us. or what it took to gather us all together. But we thank
you, Lord, for your blessings. Be with those who would have
been here but couldn't for hindering causes, health, whatever. Help them, bless them. In your
son's name we ask and pray, amen.