Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
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for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us for the message. I'll be preaching
from the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, Hebrews chapter
10. And the title of the message
is God's Good Pleasure. God's Good Pleasure. And I took
that title from down into the verses of Hebrews chapter 10
concerning the work of Christ on the cross to save his people
from their sins, how it pleased God. It was the good pleasure
of God. Now, in this passage, the writer
of Hebrews, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is giving a
stark contrast between the old covenant law, under which the
Israelites were for 1,500 years, The contrast of that conditional
covenant, which they failed to keep, and by the way, whenever
I say that, I'm not saying it self-righteously, because if
we had been under that covenant too, we would have failed. We have failed to keep the law.
The Bible says there's none righteous, no not one. There's none good,
no not one. There's none that seeketh after
God. No, not one. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. That's our state naturally
as sinners. That's why we need salvation
by grace. And the law was given to Israel
through Moses on Mount Sinai to that nation. One of the main
reasons was to expose their sinfulness and their depravity and the impossibility
of being saved or being made right with God based on their
efforts to keep the law. So that they would see that they
have no hope of salvation. And this is what we all need
to see. We have no hope of salvation, but by the grace, the free, unmerited,
unearned grace of God, based upon the obedience unto death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord our righteousness. Righteousness comes by Christ,
not by me, not by you, not by Moses, not by the law. So he's
showing the contrast between that old covenant law which was
condemnation. Paul called it a ministration
of death. And so that brought death because
the soul that sinneth must surely die. He's contrasting that covenant
with the new covenant in Christ which is the establishment in
time of the everlasting covenant of grace made before time. The
gospel is the preaching of the terms of the covenant of grace
that shows that all of salvation for God's people was conditioned
on Christ. And Christ came into the world
and He fulfilled and met and finished all the conditions to
secure the salvation of His people, His sheep, God's elect. And he
did it by his obedience unto death. And so when we talk about
the death, the burial, the resurrection of Christ, that's what we're
talking about. That's what the Bible talks about.
The security of the salvation of all who come to Christ by
God-given faith and believe in him. Well, he starts off in Hebrews
10 in verse one. He says, for the law, having
a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the
things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect."
Now the old covenant law was full of pictures and types and
shadows of something good to come. And what was that? Well
that was Christ. In the old covenant law you had
the Ten Commandments, the moral law, that was the foundation
of it. And of course, the point of that is that nobody can, you
know, somebody says, well, my only, I had a fella say one time,
he said, my hope is to keep the Ten Commandments. Well, if that's
your hope, you're under a curse. Because cursed is everyone that
continueth not in all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them. James wrote it, he said, to be guilty
of one is to be guilty of all. We're sinners. We all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. We cannot, be saved by our
law keeping. But the old covenant law also
contained the law of ceremony, the law of sacrifice, the tabernacle,
the priesthood, the sacrifices. And those were all pictures and
types and shadows of something good to come. And that good to
come was Christ. That animal blood was a picture.
of the blood of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. That high
priest, he was a picture of the one true eternal great high priest,
the Lord Jesus Christ. You see that. And how righteousness
can only come by him. So that law was a shadow of good
things to come, but not the very image of the things. It wasn't
the substance. He says, and they were offered
year after year continually. Why? because they could not make
the worshipers perfect, complete, righteous. There was no salvation
in the Old Covenant law in and of itself. Now, as it pictured
Christ, it showed that there is salvation in Christ. And that's why the Lord, when
he spoke of Moses in John chapter 5, the Pharisees who trusted
in their law keeping, We have Moses. He said, Moses will be
your judge because Moses didn't believe salvation by the law.
The law came by Moses, but Moses knew that salvation could not
be attained or maintained by his law keeping. And so he said
in John 5, he said, Moses wrote of me. Moses looked to Christ. He looked forward to the promise
that God had given him of Christ. Hebrews chapter 11 states that.
He says in verse two of Hebrews 10, for then would they not have
ceased to be offered. In other words, if the sacrifices
of animals, if the old covenant human priesthood, the tabernacle,
if they could have made the worshipers perfect, complete, righteous,
then they would have ceased to be offered. Verse two, because
that the worshipers once purged once cleansed from sin by the
payment of the debt, should have no more conscience of sins. Now
I spoke of that last week over in Hebrews chapter nine, the
clear conscience, or a couple of weeks ago. And the conscience
there is the seat of the mind, is in the mind the seat of judgment. of right and wrong, and what
he's talking about here, he's not saying that once sin is purged,
that you have no more awareness of sin, consciousness, but he's
saying that you have no more guilt so as to condemn you, no
more condemnation. Now why is that? Because if sins
are purged, paid for, if the law and justice of God is satisfied,
then the law cannot condemn you. Well then how can I, a sinner,
claim to be not guilty in the sense of being not condemned?
Well, the Bible's plain on that. Romans 8.1, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ, Christ Jesus. Those who walk not after the
flesh but after the spirit. In other words, they're not seeking
salvation. They're not seeking to be right
with God by their works. That's walking after the flesh.
But they're seeking and have found salvation and rightness
with God through Christ, His blood and His righteousness.
But verse three says, but in those sacrifices there's a remembrance
again made of sins every year. Those physical sacrifices under
the old covenant law just reminded them continually of their sin
and the fact that they deserve condemnation based on their sin. And why? Verse four, because it is not
possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away
sins. Now here's where we come to God's good pleasure, God's
will. Listen to this, verse five. Wherefore,
or for this reason, when he cometh into the world, now who is it
he's talking about who comes into the world? He's talking
about Christ. When Christ came into the world, in the fullness
of the time, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law. So when he
cometh into the world, here's what he said, he saith, and this
is a quotation from the 40th Psalm, so it's a fulfillment
of prophecy. He said, sacrifice and offering
thou wouldest not. In other words, God who instituted
and commanded the Israelites to sacrifice animals and to bring
offerings God was not pleased with those things as to eternal
salvation, as to justification before Him, as to washing away
the sin debt. You say, those things were not
instituted and commanded by God for Israel for that reason. God
never intended, it was never His will or His good pleasure
That the blood of bulls and goats take away sin. That's not what
he gave them for. They can't do that. So what did
he, what was God's will? What was God's intention? What
was God's good pleasure? Well, here it is in verse five.
Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared
me. A body. Now what is that body? That's the humanity of Jesus
Christ. the human body of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is, think about this, Jesus
Christ is God manifest in the flesh. So he had to have a human
body. Now why did he have to have a
human body? Well, he had to have a human
body to die. God cannot die. But this person,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God, he did die. The wages of
sin is death. And so in order to establish
the only righteousness whereby God could justify his people,
his elect, Christ had to have a human body. Over in the book
of Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14, this is spelled out beautifully. Look at Hebrews chapter 2 and
verse 14. It says, for as much then as
the children are partakers of flesh and blood." Now who's he
speaking of there? God's children. Now that's God's
elect. That's those whom Christ came
to save. That's what he's talking about.
And he says they're partakers of flesh and blood. That word
partaker is a fellowship word. Here's something that we have
in common. Flesh and blood. He, that is Christ, also himself
likewise took part of the same, that is flesh and blood. Now
we know from other passages that when Christ was conceived by
the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin, made of a woman,
and when he was in the womb and when he was born, There is a
major, major difference between his flesh and blood and my flesh
and blood and your flesh and blood. He was born without sin. You see, we're born in sin. And
to be born in sin, what we say is, what the scripture says,
dead in trespasses and sin, spiritually dead. The absence of spiritual
life, that's what that means. Well, Christ was not born in
sin. He was not conceived or born
in sin. He is the sinless God-man. But He was flesh and blood and
He took part of the same in the sense that He had the same weaknesses,
the same infirmities that a created human being would have. For example,
He grew hungry and He had to eat food. He grew tired and he
had to rest. He sorrowed. But see, those are
sinless infirmities. The sin that comes within us
is because our relieving those weaknesses and infirmities involved
denying the glory of God, but not in Him. So look at it again,
Hebrews 2.14, For as much then as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same,
that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is the devil. Verse 15, and deliver them who
through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
And what he's talking about is the devil's power to accuse there. The devil is the accuser of the
brethren. But because of Christ, the God-man,
who is the surety and the substitute of God's chosen people, When
the devil hurls his accusations at them, the accusations do not
stick. He charges, but the charges don't
stick. Why? Well, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
is risen again and is seated at the right hand of the Father,
ever living to make intercession for us. We'll look back at Hebrews
chapter 10 now. So he says in verse five, he
says, wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice
an offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared
me, the human body of Christ. Verse six, in burnt offerings
and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. Now it's
not that God did not command the Israelites to bring those
sacrifices and offerings. And when he says that God had
no pleasure in them, here's what he means. God's justice was not
satisfied with the sacrifice of animals. That's what it means. God's justice can only be satisfied,
righteousness can only be established by the death of Christ. Now let
me show you that. Now let's go on, verse seven.
Now God had no pleasure in those sacrifices and all, no satisfaction,
no propitiation. You know the word propitiation?
That's a sin-bearing sacrifice that brings satisfaction. The animals could not do that.
Christ did. And this is what he's saying
in verse seven. Then said I, lo, I come in the volume of the
book it is written of me to do thy will, O God. The volume of
the book. What book's he talking about?
He's talking about the book of God's purpose and sovereign will
from the very beginning before the foundation of the world.
The book of God's sovereign purpose. Christ, Jesus Christ, has always
been is now and will always be the one and only way that God's
justice is satisfied, righteousness established, and sinners are
saved. No other way. Old Testament,
New Testament, And so in verse eight he says, above when he
said, sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering
for sin, thou wouldest not, neither haths pleasure therein. You see,
he didn't have, which are offered by the law. And then he says,
then, verse nine, then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O
God. And he taketh away the first
that he may establish the second. In other words, That old covenant
system of sacrifice of animals, it was always God's intention
and God's will and God's pleasure to take it away. It's gone. And it's not to be reinstituted
again. I know, listen, I know that there
are some of these guys who preach in the second coming of Christ,
that they're going to rebuild the temple and reestablish the
Jewish priesthood and start the sacrifice of animals again. My
friend, that's not so, that's not God's will. How you, right
here, he took it away. Christ is the fulfillment of
it. He fulfilled it all. And the scripture tells us that
God's, the fulfillment of this, in the fulfillment of it, he
took away the first that he may establish the second. The second
refers to the new covenant. Again, second only in time. The old covenant came through
Moses at Mount Sinai. It lasted up until the time of
the cross. When Christ said it's finished
and gave up the ghost, he died. and the veil was rent into, torn
into from top to bottom. And that's when the new covenant
was established in time. It was inaugurated at Pentecost
and the gospel went out to the world. Now, again, understand
the new covenant now. The new covenant is the establishment
in time of an eternal everlasting covenant of grace. And that's
what he did. He took away the first, the old
covenant, but he may establish the second. And then look at
verse 10. Now he says, by the which will, that is by the will
of God, we are sanctified. Now who's the we there? That's
believers. That's God's elect. That's the
ones whom Christ came to redeem. He died for them. That's the
ones whom the Holy Spirit gives spiritual life in the new birth
and brings to faith in Christ. So it's by the which will we
are sanctified, set apart, how? Through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. Now the for all there is not
in the original manuscript. That's why it's in italics in
the King James Version. The point here is that Christ,
as those animal sacrifices had to be offered over and over and
over again, the sacrifice of Christ is a one-time act on the
cross. Once for all. Once for all His
people. Not for all without exception.
You know, these preachers that go around telling you that Christ
died for you, will you let him save you? That is not scriptural,
folks. I know that sounds cruel, and
I know people don't like to hear it, but it is not in the Bible. You say, well, he died for the
world. Not everyone without exception. Only those who come to believe
in him. And he did it one time. One time. Look at verse 14. I'm gonna deal with this next
week. But I'll just read it to you now, for by one offering,
one offering, he hath perfected, he hath completed, finished forever
them that are sanctified, them that God set apart. Back over
in the book of Isaiah, chapter 53, we have a prophecy of the
very things that I'm talking about, God's good pleasure. In
verse 10 of Isaiah 53, and you know this passage is a prophecy
of the suffering servant, the suffering Messiah. And it says
in verse 10 of Isaiah 53, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. Now why did it please the Lord?
Literally to crush him. Talking about the death of Christ
on the cross. where he was so brought down
in his physical human body under the wrath of God that he cried
out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That pleased
God. Now, is that saying that God
is some kind of a bloodthirsty monster who just likes to inflict
pain upon somebody? A sadist? No. The pleasure here
is not the kind of pleasure that we get from fulfilling our sinful
passions. The pleasure here is the satisfaction
to God's justice. God accepted the sacrifice of
His Son in the place of His people. God made Him to be sin. That
is, God charged Christ with the debt of the sins of his people.
And he gave him the just punishment, which is death, suffering unto
death. And out of that came the righteousness
of God, which is imputed, charged, accounted to his elect. So he
says, verse 10, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put
him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for
sin. And then it says, he shall see
his seed. That's his children. He shall
prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. Why? Because by this one offering,
he has perfected forever them that are sanctified. By the which
will, verse 10 of Hebrews 10, we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. You see,
that's the whole issue of Christianity, the whole foundation of it. the
whole ground of salvation, that one time offering of himself
as God-man, offering his humanity upon the altar of his deity to
pay for the sins of his people, to pay the sin debt, which is
death. That's why he suffered. That's
why he bled. That's why he died. And to prove
all that, he was buried and arose again the third day, showing
that in his death there was satisfaction. God's good pleasure was fulfilled
in the death of Christ. How do you know? He was raised
again because of the justification of his people. His righteousness
is pleasing to God. His work his suffering under
death. And again, that's God's satisfaction
of his justice. Justice has been done. And I
say it all the time on this program. We talk about mercy. We talk
about grace. We talk about love, God's love. God not only loves, but God is
love. But my friend, the only ones
who are the objects and recipients of God's love are those who are
found in Christ based upon the satisfaction that Christ accomplished
on Calvary by His one offering according to God's will and God's
good pleasure. You see that God requires justice. God's love provided what his
justice requires for his people in the person and work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. By the which will, he says, we
are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. Isn't that good news? That's
the good news of the gospel. And that's the good pleasure
of God. Hope you'll join us next week for another message from
God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
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at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, 31707. contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
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today and may the Lord be with you.