Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9. We started
this last week and did not get through it, so we're going to
move a little bit backward and then go forward again. Let's look at verse 11 and read
to the end. Hebrews 9, 11. But when Christ appeared as a
high priest of the good things that have come, then through
the greater and more perfect tent, not made with hands, that
is, not of this creation, he entered once for all into the
holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves,
but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and
bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer
sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself
without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works
to serve the living God? Therefore He is the mediator
of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the
promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that
redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made
it must be established. For a will takes effect only
at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who
made it is alive. 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 sprinkled both the book itself and all
the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God
commanded for you. And in the same way he sprinkled
with the blood of both the tent and all the vessels used in worship.
Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood,
and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.
Thus, it is necessary for the copies of the heavenly things
to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves
with better sacrifices than these. 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 on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly
as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood
not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly
since the foundation of the world. But as it appears, 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. And just as it is
appointed a man to die once. And after that comes the 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." Alright, there's a
lot there. And I'm not quite sure where
we stopped. I think we stopped verse 14 last week. So we may
not finish it, but we may. As we know, Paul is continuing
in his argument that the high priesthood of Israel and the
pictures in the shadows of all of these things are just copies. They're just pictures of the
true who is Jesus Christ. Everything that was done in the
way of worship, everything that was done in the way of sacrifice,
everything that was done in the name of purification and sanctification
and redemption was not effectual whatsoever. As we closed out
last week we did talk about the fact that the the Lord Jesus
Christ in his death purified us and created us in a way or
prepared for us in a way that we share his righteousness so
that as we stand before God we do so with a conscience that
is clean. I think that's where we stopped.
We have a conscience that is clean so that we are not fearful
of God as if He's trying to condemn
us, but we are thankful to God because He has redeemed us. The
Lord Jesus Christ, with His own blood, did that which the temporal
sacrifices of all of antiquity produced in that shadow form.
Jesus Christ, then, if that would clear our conscience. Remember
we talked about last week that we come to church and sometimes
we feel like, you know, we're a little spiritual. We'll get
to the Bible, we'll feel a little spiritual. The same thing was
true for the Jews throughout history, where they would go
to the temple, and they would go to the tabernacle, they would
have the feasts, they would do the religious things, and it
gave them a sense to where they felt a little bit more spiritual,
and in feeling more spiritual, they would have a clean conscience
until the next morning, or until that night, or until on the way
home from the festival when they got in a fight in the back of
the camel with their spouse and all their children, or whatever
it might be. But Christ settled that debt. Don't you see that
the joy of the Lord is indeed one of the greatest gifts that
God gives us through the gospel of grace? Is that we are able
to stand without blemish, we are able to stand without guilt,
we are able to stand without bondage, knowing that we are
sinful, knowing that we do sin, knowing that we struggle with
it, knowing that sometimes we even embrace it in rebellion,
and that even then we are clean before the Father because of
the work of Jesus Christ. So if this is what Christ has
done, how effectual is the work of Christ? What is it that really
took place? Now I've been following some
arguments through some social mediums that really irritate
me, but I stay, as you know, off of those debates and off
of those discussions because they're unprofitable. They really
are. Discussion with brothers and sisters are profitable. if
it stays peaceable, but just to rant in the middle of the
public view is sort of a voyeurism that I try to avoid. And I think
that it's something that we should probably all avoid. But one particular
argument that I saw this week is the fact that it doesn't matter
if there were our particular people for whom Christ died because
the blood of Christ is sufficient for all of humanity. But I mentioned
that this past Sunday as well. It's a stupid argument. It's
something that the Bible does not explicitly teach. We don't
have the accomplished redemption then therefore applied at a particular
place to an unparticular people. And so therefore we cannot argue
that the blood of Christ has done something eternally for
the saints, for the children of God, for the elect, for the
believing ones. if that opportunity is there
all the time for anyone. Because what opportunity is there?
I mean, we've already seen, and as we'll see here, as the high
priest would go in day after day and year after year in the
service of the temple, and then every year into the Holy of Holies
to make that sacrifice, and he had to do one for himself, and
he had to do one for the people. And then over and over and over
again, it would never work. If Christ had an opportunity
for salvation, He would then also have to go over and over
again from the foundation of the world, Paul says, as we'll
see, and be crucified continually. Because if you reject this crucifixion,
well, we've got to do it again. See, maybe it'll work for you
this time. Or maybe it'll work for you this time. Or maybe it'll
work for you this... Sooner or later, if Jesus continues to
die, maybe you'll see it. But the onus is not on the creature.
Saving faith is not the condition that causes redemption. The blood
of Christ is the only condition that causes redemption. So let's
look at that. Verse 15. Therefore He, Jesus
the Christ, the Son of the living God, the second person of the
Trinity, the God who became man and dwelt among us, Therefore
He is the mediator of a new covenant. He is the one who guarantees
the new promise. He is the one who fulfills the
contract with God the Father and God the Son. So that those
who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.
So right here we have a what? We have a very specific expression
of what Jesus, who is the High Priest, who effectually submitted
Himself and gave His blood and laid down His life for His sheep.
This is a particular people and this identifies them in some
way. He's the mediator of the contract, which is the promise
of eternal life between God the Father and God the Son. Jesus
Christ is the necessary condition that He would die, that His blood
would appease the wrath of God, propitiation. We talked about
that Sunday morning. And that in doing so, those who
are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. And this
is the language of Paul. The promised eternal inheritance. What is the Eternal Inheritance?
It's much different than the Temporal Inheritance. The Eternal
Inheritance is much different than the Temporary Inheritance
because the Temporary Inheritance is just a piece of land that
represents Christ. The temporary inheritance is
just a king or a temple that represents Christ, that points
to Christ, that is a shadow of Christ. So Jesus is the mediator
of the one true covenant. He is the one true high priest. He is the one who fulfills the
conditions of this promise and the promise is eternal life and
it is given to those who are called. And this language here
is not a possibility. People say, well, the word may.
May, you have to have permission. You got to work it out. Well,
I'm going to the bathroom that I may wash my hands. It's not
a possibility. It's the intention of my going
to the bathroom. I'm going to the restaurant that
I may eat supper. I don't go to the restaurant
and hope that maybe they would feed me if I stand there with
my mouth agape long enough. I don't stand in the middle of
the restroom and see if somebody comes in and washes my hands
for me, or stick them in the toilet and see if that's good
enough. It's not really the case. But people play with language
because they don't know how to read. So it says very clearly
there, those who are called, they will, Jesus did this, that
they may receive the promised eternal inheritance. So who is
the liar? We are the liars. God is not
the liar. We've already seen that. These
indisputable truths, two unchangeable things over in chapter 6. What
are they? Well, that God is impossible
for Him to lie and that we who have refuge might what? Might
be encouraged and have strong encouragement to hold fast to
the hope set before us which is the promise of God to His
people for eternal life that He that He graciously secured
in the blood of Jesus. It is a done deal. It is finished. Only those who are called will
receive the promised inheritance of eternal life. Now let's read
it again. Therefore He is the mediator
of a new covenant so that those who are called may receive the
promised eternal inheritance since a death has occurred. Now let's stop right there. When
we think of inheritance, the very word means something. We
are going to obtain that which was not ours at someone else's
death. Something that belonged to a
father or a mother or grandparents or a relative or a friend. I
mean, I have some friends who have told me, you know, if they
die, they want me to have their library. I don't really think
I need it, but I appreciate the gesture. We'll stick them upstairs
and we'll share the joy. It would be an inheritance. It
doesn't belong to me and I can't go get it at any time I want.
It must be given to me. And the only way that it's going
to be given to me is that when the person who presently owns
it dies, their will, their will and testament, executes that
property to me. So look at it from that point
of view. Since a death has occurred that redeems them, from the transgressions
committed under the first covenant. If you eat of the tree, you shall
surely die. Following the law written down
on stone is death. No matter how well we do, no
matter how perfectly we step, no matter how passionately we
long, it is death. Every act of any obedience that
we think credits us some star on our shoulder toward righteousness
is foolish. Because the death of Jesus Christ
redeemed us. The death of Jesus Christ and
his blood saved us. And if you don't like how I'm
explaining it, look at verse 16. This is exactly Paul's logic. It is so ironclad, it cannot
be refuted. By people who would hate what
was here, you cannot refute the construction of what Paul is
creating in his syntax. Four, further explanation, where
a will is involved, as I've already said, the death of the one who
made the will must be established. We must go and see, how was a
will executed? with a death certificate. A death
certificate in our country, I don't know if it's necessarily the
same way in every state, but most of the states that I've
lived in, a death certificate is issued by the Department of
Public Health, and it is signed at a hospital, or by a hospice,
or by a doctor, or someone who has established that this person
sitting before them has been identified by their ID and their
family. This is this person. They are
no longer alive, and I attest, under a penalty of prison, that
this person is dead. And I sign my name to that. And
then the pathologist or whoever, if it's necessary, why did this
person die? This is why they died. And everything
that needs to be done with everything that person owns has to be accompanied
by a death certificate, without which you have no authority,
no matter what the will says. Because the will cannot be executed
without proof that the person has died. Because my friends,
as creative as criminals are these days, if that was possible
to execute a will and to take property and to seize inheritance,
there'd be a lot of homeless people that have yet to die whose
wills have been executed. this will, the death of the one
who made the will must be established. For, further explanation, verse
17, a will takes effect only at death. This is just common
sense. Since it is not in force as long as the one who made it
is alive. I can't tell you how many times
I've heard through the years of someone dying And then their
death seems to be mysterious by their family, only to find
out that just several months before, a distant relative took
out an insurance policy on the person. And of course, someone
to take out an insurance policy on your life, you, under federal
law, have to sign. You have to know that it's happening.
You have to agree to it. But it's always suspect, isn't
it? Oh, they got $4 million worth of life insurance policy, and
they just died. It's suspect. Companies don't
pay without investigations because it is so suspect. But as long
as the person lives, the insurance policy is non-executable. It's just a piece of paper. It's
a future thing that if they don't pay the premium, it goes bye-bye. Same thing with a will. As long
as the person is alive, it is not in force. So the promise
of eternal life, though it was certain because God made the
contract, because God declared the will, because God wrote out
the last will and testament for his son, if you will. That might
be erroneous to say it that way, but you get the point that Paul's
making. He's basically saying that in
order for us to have the guarantee of that promise, Jesus had to
be proven dead because only his blood, through his death, counted. Now why is that significant?
Oh, we've all seen Hollywood movies. We prick our finger or
cut our hands. You ever seen those movies where they cut their
hands to do something? They're constantly cutting their hands and they're never
scarred. You ever think about it? I'm thinking, my goodness,
I got a splinter in my finger and I'm dancing around for 10
minutes. That's just, but it's not just that Jesus could offer
some of his blood. He had to die. He had to die. And that death, through that
death, He bought us eternal life. This is the instruction of God,
the promise of God the Father to give God the Son. So, verse
18, Paul says, Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated
without blood. Because even the first covenant,
even the first contract, this one that was not a real contract,
but a fake contract, it was the shadow of the real contract.
See, some people think, well, God would be a liar if He didn't
keep that first contract. He kept the first contract, Jesus. The covenant of grace is really
the only true covenant. All the others, His dealing with
Israel, His calling of Abram, Everything that He did, the promise
of the seed of the woman in the Garden of Eden, all of it was
to show us the true living Christ who is our great High Priest,
who is the Lamb of God. And even in the shadow, the first
covenant was inaugurated with blood. I know it says without
blood there, but it's in the negative. Therefore, not even
the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every
commandment of the law had been declared by Moses, including
the ten, to all the people, I want you to understand that for a
second too. When Paul deals with the law, friends, he says the
law declared by Moses, he is not segregating the teaching
that Moses got from God. Now some people argue that, but
I don't see anything contextually that teaches that. I don't see
anything contextually that would take us to a place where, well,
Paul's talking about the ceremonial laws. Of course he is here, right? Isn't that the point of the ceremonial
laws? But where were the tablets of
stone? Right in the heart of the entirety of the temple worship,
in the Ark of the Covenant, with the staff of the priesthood,
in the box, the mercy seat, where the blood was poured, so that
Jesus is the only true righteousness of God. Keep that in mind. For every
commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the
people, after he'd tell them what God required, he showed
them, he prepared it, they practiced it, Moses would take the blood
of calves, mix it with water, scarlet, wool, hyssop, and sprinkled
the law, sprinkled the word, And sprinkled the people with
the blood symbolically, they must be covered so that the law
in and of itself cannot redeem. Only the blood of Christ. Only the blood of Christ. And
he was saying this is the blood of the covenant that God commanded
for you. So they understood that the only
way they could stand before God without justice, without judgment,
without wrath, is that God's wrath must be satisfied through
death. God's wrath is not satisfied
through obedience, except the obedience of Christ who laid
his life down in the place of his people. This is the blood of covenant.
that God commanded for you. And in the same way he sprinkled
with the blood, both the tent and all the vessels used in worship.
Remember, they all pointed to Christ. Indeed, under the law,
almost everything is purified with blood. And without the shedding
of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. And I've said that a
thousand times. But here it is. Have you ever had people take
that out of context? Like the next few verses about
judgment is appointed unto man once to die, then the judgment.
That's in the context of the promise of life. It's not a scare
tactic. That's how ridiculously foolish
people approach the Bible when they pretext and when they pull
it out because they like the phraseology or the sound or the
pattern or the meter in which something expresses the idea
that they want it to say rather than seeing the context in which
it was is exactly saying. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no forgiveness of sins and the shedding of blood in
the old ways were to point was to point to the shedding of the
blood and the new way, the new and living way through which
we enter into the Holy Holies of God. We don't have to be a
high priest anymore because we are in the one and only high
priest and we are there in the presence of God and we will share
in the glory of God, the son, and we will celebrate him. As
our God and king without fear of the father's wrath. Because
of what he has done. Thus it was necessary for the
copies, verse 23. It was necessary for the copies
of these things to what? To be purified with these rites,
with these rituals. But the heavenly things themselves
with better sacrifices than these. For Christ, I've already said
this, but we'll let the text say it for us now, has entered
not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the
true things, but he has entered into heaven itself. Now listen
to this for a second. The last thing a sinner wants
to do is enter into the presence of God. The last thing a guilty person
wants to do is enter into the presence of judgment. It's the last thing. I've stood
as a character witness in dozens of federal cases. I've stood
as an advocate in courtrooms for 25 years. And it is one of the most unnerving
and surreal experiences I've ever had in my life. I sentenced you to 35 years in
federal penitentiary. Gavel. And a little man takes
you away. And 35 years later, you get out. That's unbelievable. A capital
case that I got selected for jury one time. Two or three days
of jury selection and discussion, and then the man said, oh, I'll
waive my right to a jury trial. I plead guilty. So we just go
away. So instead of looking for the
death penalty, they give the man life in prison. And he was
already serving 40 years for something else. Life in prison. See you later. Next, DUI number
two. You see, just like that. I've
never met a person that was excited about their court date. I've
never met a person that just like Christmas morning for a
child couldn't wait to stand before the judge. I've never
seen someone that was just so excited to stand in judgment
that they were giddy. No, it's a somber experience.
Even for us who have no problem with the law, it's still frightening. What if they accidentally point
at me and I go to jail? I mean, you know, I don't even
like it. Can I do this via closed circuit TV? Can I write my testimony
out? My last murder trial was a couple
of years ago when I was a witness. And I'm confident that my testimony
helped convict the man. Life in prison. What's the point? Christ entered
into the presence of God the Father whose entire essence is
righteousness and by definition then all that is not perfectly
righteous as He is righteous stands in judgment as they enter
into His presence. Christ went first and He stood
in the justice of God as the righteousness of God. perfectly and effectively satisfied God's
judgment so that now He appears on our behalf. He appears on
our behalf so the doors of heaven are open. Did I go to John 2?
Yeah, I did last week I think. It always pops into my head here
in John chapter 2 when Jesus is talking to Nathanael. And he says, you think you've
seen something? You're amazed because I said while you were
under the tree, I mean John chapter 1, while you were under the tree,
I saw you. Paraphrasing, Jesus says, boy,
you ain't seen nothing yet. He says, wait, wait until you
see heaven open. The abode of God descending and
ascending on me. In the presence of God coming
down to you through me and everything that God is in his holy anger
and wrath is satisfied in me and you will stand in the presence
of God. And the thing is like. He didn't
get it, but he was shown. That's what the gospel does,
it shows us that truth if we belong to him. And so Jesus goes and appears
in the presence of God on our behalf. This is not a literal
transaction taking place in the courtroom of heaven right now
where God's going guilty, James Tibbetts is guilty. And Jesus
goes, No, he's on my list. This is the transaction that
God established. He's not a he's not a he's not
a human being. He's not a created thinking,
learning creature. God doesn't look into the future.
God doesn't look back into the past. God doesn't contemplate.
He is, and He knows. What? There's no way to answer
that. He knows. He is. Why does He call Himself
I Am? Because it begs the question.
What? You're so minute in the idea of me, God says, that you
can't even Appreciate that I am. I exist as me. I am the only
one. And you stand in my judgment,
Moses, you better put your face to the sand. You stand in my
presence. As a matter of fact, you stand
near where I'm burning what I made without consuming it against
the laws that I created that uphold the universe and its physics. You stand near the bush that
I speak through. You better take off your shoes
because this place is holy because I'm in it. And if you don't want
me to kill you, you better get down. Mount Sinai, it's a tempest. Jesus Christ, celebration. Zion, I can't wait to get there,
but I'm not going to rush it. It's coming. It's coming. So Christ appears on our behalf. He did not enter into the world's
way of worshiping God, which were shadows, nor does he offer
himself repeatedly, verse 25, as the high priest enters in
every year with blood for that's not his. For if Christ had to
do like the shadows of him, he would have to do it repeatedly.
Since the foundation of the world. But as it is, He has appeared once for all
at the end of the ages to put away sin. This is one of the
phraseologies. This is part of the phraseology or the vernacular
that Paul uses and expresses the idea of the end of age, end
times. We call this time now after Christ
coming the end times. For salvation has been accomplished.
Salvation is finished. At the end of the ages, He's
appeared once for all to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. It is put away. Should think
about this. If we are, if we are guilty or
we are charged with a crime, let's use murder. And, and, and
let's say that one of the murder trials that I've been in, they
charged the person and the evidence doesn't, doesn't help them. And they're convicted and before
sentencing, someone comes up and confesses. I'm the murderer. The only thing they can do is
let that guy free. Well, you still say you're innocent. You
say you're guilty. There you go. You're free to
go. We're sorry. Bye. Happens all the time. And you might say, that's not
like the gospel. It is like the gospel. Jesus took on murder. Jesus stood in the presence of
God the Father and shed his own blood as a murderer, but he wasn't
a murderer. He wasn't guilty of murder, but
he took the guilt of murder. That's why it worked. If he was
guilty of sin personally, he'd still be dead and we'd be condemned.
But he put away sin. All right, now let's go back
to our example. There's the guy in the courtroom and what do they do
with his case files? It just gets stored away somewhere.
It doesn't stay on the judge's docket. It doesn't stay in the
clerk of courts and continue to come up every six months.
Well, this guy's been acquitted. But what do we do with all this
evidence? We better hang on to it just in case this guy changes his
mind in 20 years. Nope. Toss it aside. It's said and
done. Now I'm no lawyer, and I'm sure
those who are are going, that's just nonsense. I don't care.
I'm using it as an example. Pastoral illustrations don't
have to be authentically accurate. I couldn't make it up like most
guys. When I was charged with murder, and they gave me, you
know, like, I don't want to go there. It's just an expression.
It's an illustration. I should have been charged with
murder in my heart many times over. He put it away. The charges are put away. The
evidence is put away. The guilt is put away. There's
nothing there. Oh, what about this guy? What about this guy?
That's John. He's a free man. He's not a murderer. He could
very well be one. It's put away. When Jesus shed
his blood, the guilt of the elect are put away. The sin of the
elect are put away. They're no longer in the presence
of God. Look at the imagery. As far as the East is from the
West, the sins are no more. Now, I've driven across this
country nine times in a car with four children. And you don't have to get too
far where you can't see where you come from. See that imagery? How far is
the east from the west? Okay, the earth is round, but
in a line of direction, eternally, infinitely. It's a better word.
And Trey's going to go, well, actually, infinitely. So Christ mediated a new covenant.
that he may put away sin so that he would meet the conditions
of the eternal inheritance through his death so that the transgressions
committed under the first covenant would be satisfied. And every
command that has ever been given has been satisfied. And we have been purified through
the blood of Jesus Christ who now has gone into the presence
of God that all these things represent, the righteousness
of God, even the Ten Commandments. They represent God's innate essence,
His character of being set apart so different than all that He's
made. We call it holiness and He's declared us to be as He
is. perfect without blemish and spotless because now we've been
given to Christ who suffered in the presence of God for His
people that we walk into. And this is just, I mean, it's
almost impossible not to preach the entire letter of Hebrews
at this point. because we will not set in judgment. He's appeared once for all to
take away sins, to put away sins by the sacrifice of himself.
Verse 27. This is what it's talking about.
The finished work of Jesus that takes away the judgment. And
just as it is appointed. For man to die one time. And
after that comes judgment. See, that's a parenthetical,
that's a that's a parentheses. That's an inserted segment. It makes no sense by itself. And just as it is appointed for
man once to die, and after that comes judgment, comma, 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 awaiting for him. There is no judgment before our
Father. Beloved, let me tell you something.
The true gospel gives peace. The true gospel empowers gratefulness. The true gospel lays bare the
reality of our evilness and our flesh and our death, and it shows
us how our life is only in Christ. It expresses, as John has said,
In both his gospel through the illustration and the depiction
of Jesus in his teaching and in his first epistle, it explains
and displays the love of God to its absolute perfection. He
gave his son to save his people from their sins, and we are safe. And in that, pastorally, we then
have a motivator. Through our high priest who died
because of our sin, we have a motivation to put away the flesh. We have
an empowerment to do so by the Spirit's teaching of the Word
that we gather together on occasions like this to be encouraged in
the Word and then to share life and to talk about how we pray
for one another and God encourages us to put to death that which
we struggle with. And we're not going to do it
well. But there are seasons and times, as the Lord mercy permits,
that we will do it some. Those ministries that tout the
idea that there is a possibility of sinlessness are liars. They're
liars from the very core. They don't understand the grace
of God. Sure, you can put away certain
sins and never do them again, I'm sure. but not all sin. But that in itself is not a license
to continue in it. And the struggle and the work
and the fight is not one that we bear to put away our sins
before the Father, because Christ has done it. So then we are what? Then we are able to, as Paul
has already said, he is able to sympathize with us in our
weakness, for he has been tempted as we have been, yet he sins
not. And now we can be gentle with
one another as we seek in our spiritual maturity to help those
who are spiritually weaker. And we are all mature according
in comparison to someone, and we are all weak in comparison
to someone. There is always a stronger in
our life, and we are always the stronger in someone else's. Don't
ever forget that. When Christ comes back, He will
save us forever. He will save us forever. He's
not going to give another opportunity for salvation. There's not an
opportunity for salvation. Today is the day of salvation.
Do not harden your hearts as those in the rebellion. We must
pay more close attention to what we have heard, lest we drift
away. Do not walk into the flesh by setting the table for it,
and thinking that if we eat and dine in a higher way, and if
we walk and wash in a better way, and that if we moderate
our moralism in a better way, that we are more pleasing to
God. We are as pleasing to God as we will ever be, and then
some, because Christ is our righteousness. And in that truth, we stop and
stand still in awe and worship. And beloved, that is why Paul
talks as he does about those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Because I want this world to finish. I love my life. I love God's
blessings in my life. I love you. But if he were to
bust open this wall today and say, y'all ready? Because y'all
best not be in my way. Follow me as I run to Christ,
or get stepped on. I'll Wing Chun y'all right through.
But all jokes aside, I mean, when we really look at the labor,
we really want the rest. We really want the rest. The
rest is our promise. And it begins now as we put this
in here. I saw a video a couple of months
ago where this little boy looks five years old, he's sitting
there with a book at school, and he's doing like this, and
he's putting it like this. He's just trying to move the
data into his head like that. It's the cutest thing I've ever
seen. And I thought, man, if it could just be like that. We have to
labor, we have to pray, we have to learn, we have to teach, we
have to read, we have to Take a breath and know that God
has done it all. So in that, beloved, look at verse one of
chapter 10. For since the law has but a shadow
of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities,
it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered
every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would
they not have ceased to be offered since the worshipers, having
once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness
of sins? But in these sacrifices, there
is a reminder of sins every year where it's impossible for the
blood of bulls and goats to take away their sins. So what I just said is affirmed
by those four verses. We can rest because Christ has
taken away our sin. Rest therein, beloved. Let's
pray. We thank you, Father, for the truth of your word. Lord,
for teaching us even though we don't know what we're talking
about. Lord, keep us from digging where we shouldn't dig and thinking
what we shouldn't think. Lord, from trying to feel like
we're smart enough to figure out all the details of you. But
Lord, let us have the faith that you've given us to believe that
you've revealed enough of you. That we might glory in you. Our
Redeemer. Our life. Our hope. Our God. And I thank you, Lord, that this
is not just an encouragement to know whose we are and how
we stand before you, but Lord, it's an encouragement to help
us in this daily walk. Father, there is sin in our lives
that we don't even see. There is sin in our lives that
we wish we didn't see. And there is sin in our lives
that we keep secret because we like to see it. And then we feel
guilty because we hate sin. And Lord, as that ebbs and flows,
as that rises and falls, our only hope is the finished work
of Jesus, who took away our sin, who did what needed to be done
to finish sin and put it away. It is no longer on the table
of justice, for it has been satisfied and you are pleased with us.
Let us rest there. As the power of salvation, which
is your good news, Lord, that good news is the power. Is your
power. Unto salvation. Father, I pray
for our children as they struggle with the flesh, as they struggle
with the influences of the world. I pray for our young adults and
our young couples and our median age and older couples and all
of us, Lord. I pray for all of us, where we
are in the station of life, that we would not become overcome
by the idea that we've got it together and others don't, Lord,
that we would not point fingers at our brothers and sisters and
say, shame, shame, you're not as good as you should be without
first pointing four or five or six or 10 more back at us saying,
shame, shame. But Father, that we would also
in that same way of not casting and causing each other to stumble
in an unrighteous judgment, Lord, that we would stand in righteous
judgment and be free of judgment. And though you may discipline
us to teach us and to grow us, Lord, we receive that with great
blessing. Teaching us right from wrong, causing us to understand,
seeing us as Christ has made us and Lord helping us to see
ourselves in that same way. As we support each other. As
we encourage, as we pray, as we labor, as we're patient with
each other. In this way. So Father, we love
you because you've loved us first, and we love each other because
we desire to love you. And in doing so, we fulfill the
law of Christ. And we thank you for that in
his name we pray. Amen.