The title of today's message
is One Payment Required. Today's message will come from
Hebrews 10, verses 1 through 11. Now my number one goal with
this message and all the messages that I deliver is to honor and
glorify God, to point everyone to Christ and him alone. The
truth is that most, the truth is that nobody will believe the
true gospel by nature. It tells us in scripture, when
Christ is delivering his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7, 13
and 14, he says, enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide
is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction,
and many there be which go in thereat, because straight is
the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and
few there be that find it. You see, the majority of people
going down their religious road, the path that so many profess
to believe in the gospel, will actually end up in destruction.
It tells us that most people are going down the broad road,
and they don't know the true gospel. This was one of the first
verses in scripture that I was faced with that had a huge impact
on me. I remember one of the first messages
that I ever heard. Randy delivered it. The title
of it was Straight Talk. And it was a great message. But
I remember hearing that and thinking, wow, that's the complete opposite
of what I had been taught and heard all of my life. It was
like my whole world had been flipped upside down. But at that
time, I didn't realize it, and I know it now, my world had been
flipped right side up. You see, I really thought in
my mind that everyone, without exception, went to final glory
in heaven. I believed in what I now know
as universal atonement. I'd never heard that before until
I came here. Simply put, I believed that Christ
died for everyone, without exception, And out of all the funerals I
had ever attended, everyone was preached right into heaven. They
sat up there and talked about a point in time where that person
had made a decision, where they were baptized, or allowed Christ
to come into their heart, profession of faith. They never spoke about
Christ and what He came to do, what He came to accomplish, or
what He actually accomplished by His death. They never talked
about his precious blood offering. I really thought and believed,
like most people, that only murderers and morally bad people went to
destruction. And while we're on the topic
of destruction, do you realize what destruction means? Destruction
means spending an eternity separated from God, without hope, without
life, without promise, without purpose, and without strength.
It means complete darkness, alone, separated. Let me tell you something,
and this is very important. In some cases, we aren't really
talking about the difference between night and day with some
of the stuff we see and hear when it comes to Christianity
today, or so-called Christianity. To the believer that's been regenerated
by God, and that's been born again by the Spirit, The difference
is it's night and day. And I have to be very careful
when I say this because I don't want anybody to misunderstand
what I'm saying. The true gospel and the false
gospel can be hard at times to distinguish. And this is where
the devil does his best work. In Matthew 7, 15, Christ goes
on to say, beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Satan is so,
so clever. He makes it appear that everyone
is looking to the same Christ. But there's one key difference.
One salvation, the true salvation, is based only on Christ and what
He accomplished by His death on the cross. The other is by
works, making the sinner their own Savior. You see, by making
a decision, To save oneself, it takes all the glory and honor
away from Christ and makes his death ineffectual. I can't stress
this enough, so please listen to this carefully. Satan uses
such subtle tactics when disguising false religion from the true
gospel message. He'll give you a religion and
paint it up as Christianity, have people resting on their
own works, on their decisions, and He'll deliver it to them.
He'll have people thinking they're following Christ and all the
while, they're looking to themselves for their salvation. They don't
need Christ if this is the case. They don't need a substitute.
They don't need a Redeemer. Now I was trying to come up with
some sort of an equation or depiction that would describe what salvation
is, and I came up with something very simple, and it's this. It's an equation for salvation. Christ plus his blood offering
equals salvation for his sheep. That's it, in a nutshell. Christ came, lived, died, and
redeemed his sheep by his blood offering. Now this equation's
just like any other you would find in math or algebra. If you
try to add, change, or take away anything on the left side, it
changes the right. The end result would not be the
same if you add to or take away from that left side. So as you
can see, works is not in that equation. Making a profession
of faith, it's not there. Baptism, not there. Joining a
church, not there. Making a decision, not there. The only two things in that equation
are Christ and his blood. I have a question for you among
all the conflict, confusion, and custom in today's religious
world. Would you be interested? Would you really sincerely, seriously
be interested in sitting down and taking a good hard look at
what God says in his word about salvation from sin? This won't
be about what you think or what I think. Would you be interested
in what God Almighty and His word has to say about salvation?
And we won't talk about what your opinion is or what my opinion
is. We'll go through scripture only.
Because to be honest with you, it doesn't really matter what
our opinion is when we talk about our eternal standing with God.
When you stand before a holy and just God, and that is just
what He is, holy and just, you can't go to Him and say, well,
God, I thought it should be like this, or I figured since everyone
said this, then you would be okay with that. God's going to
tell you a judgment. You aren't, and you weren't resting
in Christ's righteousness alone. You weren't looking to Christ.
You said by your actions, thoughts, and deeds, that Christ was not
a suitable redeemer. You diminished his authority,
you diminished his power, and there's a price to pay. Let me
ask another question. Would you be interested in looking
today at what God has to say about the putting away and the
forgiveness of sins from the past, present, and future? Would
you be interested in knowing how a sinner, a genuine sinner
like me and you, can go to a holy God? How we can go to His throne
when it's time for judgment? You see, our faith must not stand
based on what other men or other people tell us. We should not
follow men. God did not call us to follow
men. God commands us to follow Christ. Our faith must not stand
in the word of God. Years ago, I worked at a local
factory up in Americas. I started working there right
when I got out of college. After about two years, I'd been
transferred to another facility up in Ellaville as a promotion. In Ellaville, I had a great plant
manager that I worked for, but an opportunity came up at another
company in Albany. So I went and interviewed for
the job early in the week, maybe that Monday or Tuesday. Everything
went well at the interview, and they made me a job offer. I went
in that Thursday and the plant manager came to me and told me
that he was about to let another employee go and he was going
to promote me into a new position. I had already had plans to let
him know that Friday what my plans were, so I went ahead and
talked to him that Thursday and I told him about this new opportunity
in Albany. When I talked to him, I told
him I really liked him as a manager and I was considering staying
because I liked him and his work ethic. But he cautioned me and
made a statement to me that I will remember forever. And he said,
don't stay in a church because you like the preacher. Stay in
a church because of what's being preached. Stay because of the
message. I ended up taking the opportunity
in Albany Following week, he came to me and told me he was
leaving the company. You see, I didn't need to be
a man follower. I needed to dig deep and evaluate the situation. And in religion, you need to
dig deep and read the scripture for yourself. Seek the answers. Seek the truth. And don't just
take my word for it or anybody else's word for it. The word
of God is the foundation of faith, according to Romans 10, 17. It
says, So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. Our confidence and faith cannot
rest in the logic, argument, or wisdom of others, but in the
infinite and sovereign power of God. I want for all of us
to look seriously at what God has to say about salvation. If
you want to hear some good modern music, listen to motivational
speakers, You can go to your iPod later on when you leave.
iTunes has great music, and they have podcasts on there that will
motivate you to be your best in life. But right now, we need
to talk about the gospel. Now I'd say this, spreading the
gospel message that Christ came, bled, died, and accomplished
a salvation that he was sent to do is the most important part
of our ministry here. A few weeks ago, somebody came
to me and asked me, Jason, what are you going to be preaching
on today? And I said the gospel. I'm going to honor and glorify
Christ and what he accomplished on the cross. And that's what
I really like about this church. I can guarantee you that you
will hear the gospel message week after week being preached
here. Now, some groups have chosen to toss the true gospel message
to the scrap heap. They've watered it down to nothing,
and they spend all their time begging, selling, and entertaining. But I can promise you this. Week
after week, you'll hear the true gospel being preached here. We'll
always promote Christ, raise Christ, praise Christ, and rely
on His finished work for salvation. And what I'm trying to tell you
is this. If you like to read Sports Illustrated, Southern
Living, watch TV, play video games, or read the latest best-selling
novel, read the newspaper, look at the news online, then please,
please, please take the time to look at and read your Bible.
This is serious business. We're talking about spending
an eternity somewhere. I'm not saying you
shouldn't do those things, but I'm just saying everybody needs
to read the Bible and seek the truth, seek the answers. Let's
look at some scripture in Hebrews 10. This scripture is about how
before Christ came, the law required an atonement to be made each
year. It talks about sacrifices that
were made and their ineffectiveness to wash away sins. Beginning
in Hebrews 10, 1, it 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. It's saying here that all the
Old Testament sacrifices were God-ordained and God-designed
They served a purpose, and that purpose was to picture, symbolize,
foreshadow, and typify Jesus Christ and his sacrifice and
sin offering. The Old Testament animal sacrifices,
the feast days, holy days, tabernacle, priesthood, sin offerings, and
burn offerings were not actually saviors or sacraments. They were
pictures. They were shadows. And a shadow
is not the actual person. It's just the image of the person.
It's the outline, not the substance. These things were pictures, or
a foreshadowing of good things to come. You might ask, what
were the good things to come? The good things to come were
salvation, the putting away of sin, justification, redemption,
and righteousness. Those are the good things. They
are what is described here in Hebrews 10.1. You see, these
laws, sacrifices, and ceremonies that Moses passed along to Israel,
that they observed and kept for all those hundreds and hundreds
and hundreds of years, could never put away sin. It was not
possible. Then Hebrews 10, 2 says, for
then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the
worshipers once purged should have no more conscience of sins.
If they could have put away sins, they would not have continued
to offer their sacrifices. They wouldn't have been necessary
anymore. If sin was put away, there's no use for any more sacrifice. There's no need for it. And if
I owe a debt on my mortgage and I pay it off, or if in this case,
somebody else pays it off for me, I don't keep going to the
bank and making a payment on that loan. It's paid. and I don't
have to pay it anymore. Sin that is put away does not
require any more sacrifices, no more payment. People have
never been saved any other way but by the cross, the sacrifice
of Christ, his blood. They were never saved by keeping
the law, circumcision, sacrificing animals or anything like that.
They were either looking to Christ coming or looking back to Christ
who came. In Hebrews 10.3 it says, but
in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins
every year. And what it's saying here is
that God still required atonement this year and atonement next
year. Why wouldn't the next year? Because
sin is still there and Christ had not come and finished the
work. Why wouldn't the next year again? Because sin is still there. Verse four in Hebrews 10 goes
on to say, for it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sins. Animal blood cannot wash away
the sins for the sins of man. Man has to die. The law was given
to man and man has to obey it. And not just obey part of it.
Man has to be perfect and obey it 100%. The Old Testament laws and sacrifices
are not sin offerings in the sense that they were effectual.
They were pictures. They were just pictures of Christ
coming according to what God had planned. Abraham and Moses
both demonstrated their faith in Christ. Christ said in John
8, 56, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it
and was glad. Christ also said in John 5, 46,
for had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he
wrote of me. These sacrifices under the law
cannot put away sin. They were not given for that
purpose. The blood of an animal cannot atone for the sin of a
man. Let's look at Hebrews 10, 5. Wherefore, when he cometh
into the world, he saith, sacrifice and sin offering thou wouldest
not. but a body hast thou prepared me. When it says here that he
came into the world, it means he actually took on a human body
and was born of a woman, made under the law, and came into
this world in human flesh. Jesus Christ, God Almighty, actually
came into this world. In John 1 10 it says, he was
in the world and the world was made by him. and the world knew
him not. And then further down in John
1.14, it says, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the father, full of grace and truth. He said when he came
into the world in Hebrews 10.5, wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and sin offering thou wouldest
not, but a body hast thou prepared me. This is referring to a true
tabernacle, where God meets men and men meet God. It's where
the true mercy seat is. The true tabernacle is Jesus
Christ, the Lord. In Hebrews 10.6, it reads, in
burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. That means that God wasn't pleased
with those offerings or sacrifices made for sin. In verse seven
of Hebrews 10, it says, then said I, lo, I come, in the volume
of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God. Now listen to what I'm about
to say. There are a lot of arguments
going on out there about my will, your will, free will, man's will,
and God's will, and all those other kinds of wills. It boils down to this. If you
have a free will to earn your salvation, to save yourself,
then it is not of God. It is not of grace. That cannot
be said enough times. There's only one free will, and
that is God's will. His will is free. God will do
what he will do. Christ said in John 6, 37 through
40, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down
from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that
sent me. And this is the father's will,
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the son and believeth on him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the
last day. We're not born of the will of man, We are not generated
by the will of the flesh, but we are born, regenerated, and
saved by the will of God. Now here's some other scriptures
referring to the will of God. Ephesians 111. In whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
Daniel 4.35 says, and all the inhabitants of the earth are
reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? In reference to the will of God,
listen to the next verse in Hebrews 10, verses eight and nine. Above when he said sacrifice
and offering and burn offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldest
not. Neither hats pleasure therein which are offered by the law.
Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first that he may establish the second. The first what, you
may ask? He takes away the first covenant
of works. The first here refers to the
old covenant given to the nation of Israel by Moses on Mount Sinai. The first covenant here was a
covenant of works, and it's gone. Man failed miserably to keep
this covenant. In the fullness of time, Christ
came and did away with the first covenant by way of fulfillment. Man failed, so God established
the new covenant. The new covenant is the everlasting
covenant, the covenant of his grace. The new covenant here
is only called new because it's the newest covenant that was
established in time. David spoke of this when he was
dying in 2 Samuel 23 5. Although my house be not so with
God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things, ensure. For this is all my salvation
and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. We'll continue in Hebrews 10.10.
It says, by the witch will we are sanctified through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. We're sanctified, set
apart, separated for God. We are sanctified, made holy,
and declared holy, not based on our works of the law, but
based entirely on the righteousness of Christ. How are we sanctified? Are we sanctified through the
law? Are we sanctified through our works? No. We're sanctified through the
offering of the body of Christ, his finished work. Then it says
in verse 11, and every priest stands daily ministering and
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take
away sins. We go through the motions, we
go through the rules, and we go through all these traditions
and customs. We walk down the aisle, we dedicate, we rededicate,
we make professions, we go in, we go out. We get hot, we get
cold. We quit, we come back. We do
all of these things, but sin is still there. Now to close this out, I want
to make a few comments. When it comes to salvation and
eternal security, the only place to find eternal security and
peace is in Christ and Him alone. Salvation is not based on the
works of a sinner. It's all based on the blood of
Christ. Don't take my word for it. Don't
take anybody else's word for it. Take a look at what scripture
says. It's right in there. It's all
in there. So many people that religious
tradition dictate their beliefs. They're brought up in a church.
or in a religion and they adopt it as the true gospel. Don't
be man followers. Follow Christ and search for
the truth. The scriptures are clear. Christ
came to earth for a reason. He had a mission when he came.
He came to save a group of people called his sheep. In scripture,
it doesn't say that he tried to save them or he made them
savable. or just did part of the job and
somebody else has to do the rest. That would not be reflective
of a true redeemer and effective sacrifice. The true gospel brings
great news, great news to sinners who are resting on Christ alone
for their salvation, redeemed by his blood. They will spend
an eternity in heaven honoring and glorifying God. Before Christ
came, animal sacrifices were made. But as we read in Hebrews
10, God was never pleased with those animal sacrifices. That's
why Christ came in the fullness of time and shed his blood. He came to make the final atonement,
to make that final payment, making the one payment required to save
his people.