Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much. All right, let's begin this morning. As you can see, I'm operating
at a handicap this morning. Richard and Janice are away and
we pray the Lord's blessings on them. Let's turn, first of
all, to hymn number three, to hymn number three. Let's stand and sing, and every
one of you good vocalists can really help me with this a lot,
if you will, like Betty. Hymn number three, Holy, Holy,
Holy. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty
Early in the morning Our song shall rise to Thee Holy, holy,
holy merciful and mighty, God in three Persons, blessed Trinity. Holy, holy, holy, all the saints
adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy
sea. Cherubim and seraphim falling
down before thee. Which were then, are then, evermore
shall be. Holy, holy, holy, though the
darkness hide thee, though the eye of sinful man thy glory may
not see, Only Thou art holy, there is none beside Thee, perfect
in power, love and purity. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
all Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and
mighty, God in three persons, blessed Trinity. Thank you. You may be seated.
I'm lacking We're thankful for the Lord's mercies that gather
us in this place. We're grateful to God for his
goodness to his people. We pray that he would be exalted
and glorified in all things, especially in the proclamation
of his word. I want to pray for Brother Joe
Schwartz and others that are sick, recuperating. I'm thankful
that the Lord has been merciful to my daughter and she's able
to be here this morning. And so many blessings upon us
that we could never praise him and thank him enough, especially
for that salvation that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Before
we pray, I want to turn in the book of First John for our reading. These are serious and sober words. And they are words for this last
time in which we live. First John, chapter 2, and beginning
in verse 18. Little children, and that's how
John refers to all of God's people. His elect people here are described
as little children. Certainly that says something
about us. We're so frail and so dependent
upon him and so in need of his protection and grace. Little children, it is the last
time. And as ye have heard that Antichrist
shall come, even now are there many antichrist whereby we know
that it is the last time. John in his day referred to the
times that then were as the last times and he also said even now
there are many antichrists. They went out from us but they
were not of us. For if they had been of us, then
they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that
they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But ye have an unction from the
Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because
you know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie
is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist that denieth
the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeth the Son
hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you
which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have
heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall
continue in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise
that he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have
I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the
anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, And ye
have not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth
you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie. And even as it
hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. And now, little children,
abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence
and be not ashamed before him at his coming. If you know that
he is righteous, you know that everyone that doeth righteousness
is born of him. And certainly the doing righteousness
here is simply believing and trusting in the only one the
only righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we thank him
that it is that way. May we pray. Our Father, this morning we come,
we trust drawn and brought by your providence and by your spirit
to gather in this place that you have appointed for the preaching
of the gospel. Lord, we remember what we read
last week about how when Paul saw the man in the vision, the
man of Macedonia calling out to them saying, come over and
help us, that Paul said, by that we determined that God had purposed
and called us for to go into that region to preach the gospel. Lord, we desire to proclaim thy
gospel. We know it is the means by which
you call your sheep and by which you comfort your sheep, encourage
your sheep, correct your sheep and give to them that everlasting
consolation. We know that we are so feeble
and so ill-prepared and so unable of ourselves to preach Christ
and Him crucified as He is revealed in the scripture. But we know
by thy word that you call feeble men to do so. You make their
hearts to be strong as iron, and yet their feet are like clay. We ask, Lord, this morning for
the leadership of your spirit that we might rightly divide
the word of truth. That we might preach Christ Jesus
as the only hope of your people. That we might emphasize him and
that perfect work as the thing that makes up for the gospel. Lord, we pray this morning for
these that have been sick. And we ask that you would show
them mercy, those that travel and are away. We pray that you
would bring them safely back. We ask and we pray thanking you
for your tender mercies to all your people. We thank you for
everyone you've healed, for everyone you've encouraged, for everyone
that you've corrected, for everyone that you have taught, for everyone
that you have provided for. Lord, we need everything and
we look to you for it. We are helpless in ourselves,
but you are the mighty God, the one who does all your will in
heaven and earth, and the one who alone deserves and shall
receive the glory. Lord, help us that we might do
that righteousness that John is speaking of. That we might
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ alone. That we might look to
him alone. That we might find in him the
glorious things that are deserving of our attention and the majestic
work of grace that he has accomplished on the behalf of his sheep. We know that his sheep hear his
voice and they follow him. They follow him as he is revealed
in the gospel. And Lord, we thank you this morning
for all your people. We pray that you would be that
shepherd that watches over them, that you would be the one that
protects us and keeps us, and that would deliver us from the
deceiving of the devil and all his agents. We ask Lord this
morning, that you'd help your people, strengthen them wherever
they are in this world this morning, and your true servants who preach
Christ and Him crucified as the whole of salvation. Grace as
that which is to be magnified. His person and work, that which
is to be emphasized. Lord, we thank you for our precious
Savior, and we pray in his name and give you glory. Amen. All right, let's turn to hymn
number 392. 392, and then as we sing, Tim
can wait on the congregation. 392. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground
is sinking sand. When darkness veils his lovely
face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy
gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid
rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. His oath is Kabbah, not His blood
support. Open your Bibles this morning
to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 10. I'll begin reading at verse 11
and just read a few verses. And every priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can
never take away sin. 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. And I preach the gospel. We're
going to have to be preaching the same thing because they're
just one gospel. And that word gospel means good
news. It means glad tidings. So if I stand before you and
preach the gospel, I have to preach glad tidings. I have to preach good news to
the people of God. But the gospel is about something
done by one man. Something already done by one
man. And that's where I get the title
for my message. What this man did. What this man did. And here in our text the apostle
is comparing what even those God-ordained priests of the Old
Testament did. to what another and particular
priest did. He's comparing all of them to
him. And there's a great difference
between these priests, though they were ordained of God. There
was a great difference between these priests and this man. They stood day by day. They offered what God had prescribed. They did what God said they were
to do. But those sacrifices, that priestly
work, never put away one seed. never made an end of one scene. And there's not only a difference
between him, this priest, and them, there's a great difference
between him and every other man that's ever lived. And especially There is a great
difference between the one that so many call Jesus in our day
and this man. They're Antichrist. They're another Jesus. And what this man did is greatly
different. Those priests did it many times. From the time that priesthood
was ordained of God to the coming of Christ, how much animal blood
was spilled and poured out on altars, offered up to God? Just more than we can ever imagine. But though they did this work
oftentimes, Look where they are now. They're dead. They did all this
work. They never put away one sin,
and they died. You look at them all, read what
it says about it. That's one thing common in the
scripture. You see everyone from Adam to Christ, and they died.
And he died. These priests all died. was never
over, their work was never successful, their work never ever took away
singing. But this is the contrast. And this is the good news. These are the glad tidings. This man, this priest, this Jesus
has offered one offering. The gospel is not about an offer. It is not an offer. The gospel
is a message and a declaration about a particular offering,
a sacrifice, an offering for sins. And this offering, this scripture
tells us, was offered not many times, but once. I love to read that in the book
of Hebrews. Once. once. Their offerings and their sacrifices
and their words never could take away sin. It said they can never. Why? Because it's not possible. As
the prophet apostle tells us, it's not possible that the blood
of bulls and goats could take away sins. It's not possible because those
sacrifices were not a sacrifice of a man. It's not possible because their
work was not performed by a perfect man, sinless man. And because their work was never
a perfect obedience. And this death was not the death
of a sinless sacrifice. Those things all pictured the
work. And those priests, they pictured
the priests. And those sacrifices, they pictured
the sacrifice. But none of them were it. And
none of them were him. None of them were, as the apostle
says here, this man. That's the one I want us to know
about. That's the one that I want to
try, by God's grace, to point you to. Not only to point you
away from yourself and your works and all those false Christs and
antichrists and other Jesuses that are proclaimed. I want to
point you as John the Baptist did. Behold the Lamb of God,
who does what? Takes away sin. I want to distinguish this man. And to be this man and this perfect
sacrifice and this perfect priest, he must be God. in flesh. It's always on the chopping block
in false religion, whether or not Jesus Christ is God. That's not even for debate. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. This man was God in the flesh. And this work that he performed,
just as those Old Testament sacrifices, they were offered and they were
made for a particular people of God's choosing. Not those Hivites and the people
of Canaan, Jebusites and all the ites that there were in that
land or in the world, all the Gentile world at that time. but
for Israel, for a particular people of God's choosing, which
shows us and demonstrates to us that the sacrifice and the
offering of this priest was offered for a particular people that
he chose, that he represented. Because when he was announced
into this world, it was with this word, he, shall save his
people from their sin. So the work of this man, this
Jesus of Nazareth, the work of this man was to offer a sacrifice
and to do a work of redemption for this people who he describes
as his people. They're his by creation. But they are more so His by choice,
His choice. You have not chosen me, but I've
chosen you. That's what Christ said. And
His sacrifice that He offered here was not just an offering
to placate a mythological God. His sacrifice was one sacrifice
for sins. for sins. So if Christ died for you, you
must be a sinner. If Christ died for you, you must
have had sins, and that sacrifice was a sacrifice for all their
sins, not just part of them. Most preachers preach, well,
God's sacrifice The blood of Christ saves us from all of our
sin before our conversion, but afterwards we've got to do things
to assure that we're saved. No. Once. This man, this God-man, this
particular priest, We have a great high priest that can be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. And the only way, the only way
he could save us, come from heaven in order to save us, was that
he'd die the death of the cross. There was a particular price
of redemption that had to be paid. Redemption is remission of sins,
putting away of sins. And the only way that could ever
be accomplished was to die the death of the cross, because the
Lord had already told us many, many years ago, the soul that
sinneth. I'm gonna spank him. I'm gonna say bad things about
him. No, the soul that sinneth shall surely die. And that's why you can't preach
the gospel. You cannot preach Christ without
preaching about his death. Paul said, I determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. He said the preaching of the
cross is foolishness. That is, it's not enough to them that perish. They got to hear more. It's got
to involve something that we do. But that's not the gospel. Whatever God says in this word,
to his people, he says, to correct them and chastise them. We all,
as regenerated people, if we are regenerated, we read his
word, we see those things that he corrects us, we see his things
that he teaches in us, but they are not the gospel. Turn over to Hebrews 7. Hebrews
chapter 7. And look down at verse 24. Comparing and contrasting these
priests again, Christ with it. He says, but this man, because
he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. He's always going
to have his priesthood. Why? Because he doesn't die.
He lives again. Wherefore, he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he
ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest
became us, or who fitted us, or suited us, who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heaven,
who needeth not daily, as those priests, to offer up sacrifice,
first for his own sins, and then for the people's. For this he
did once when he offered up himself." What was his offering? Himself. His own unique self. His own God in the flesh self. His own sinless self. Look down also in Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9 and verse 11. It begins with above. There's
that comparison, that contrast. But Christ being come an 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,
and 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 us. Manifested eternal redemption. This is what eternal redemption
is all about. This is eternal redemption. Christ is the lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. He is the lamb that hung on Calvary. He is the lamb that we see in
the Revelation. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctify
to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? That's all our conscious is by
nature, full of dead works. Full of works that we think will
recommend us to God. Full of works and ideas about
God and efforts of working toward God and pleasing to God, but
they're just dead works. That is, they'll end in eternal
death. But not this man. Not this man. Look down at verse
24. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
truth. All those holy places in the
Old Testament, in the tabernacle, all those places were just figures
of the truth. That wasn't the work. They weren't
the priest. That wasn't the sacrifice. That
even wasn't the holy place. but into heaven itself, heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often as the high priest entereth into the holy place
every year with blood of others, for then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. If Christ appeared to put away
my sins by the sacrifice of himself, My sins are no more. Do I sin? Yes, I sin. Will I sin in the future? Yes,
I'll sin in the future. But they were all future when
he died on the cross. All future. Look at Hebrews 10 verses 1 and
2. 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. For then would they
not have ceased to be offered, because that the worshippers
once purged should have no more conscience for sins. But when those priests offered
up animal sacrifices, when they did exactly what God
told them, when the high priest went into
that holy place and offered the blood, he came out, and yet there
was no ease of conscience to the worship. Unless God gave that Old Testament worshipper faith and enabled
them to look to Christ, they still had a conscience for sin. They still did. But look at verse 12 of Hebrews
10, our text. 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. In the tabernacle, in the holy place, there was
various parts ordained, furniture, table
of showbread. But there was one thing strangely
missing, and that was a chair. There was no chair in that tabernacle.
And the reason why there was no chair was because those priests
never finished the work. They had to come back again the
next time and do that. There was no chair in that tabernacle,
so there was no need for a chair that they could sit upon. But
rather, the real chair was in the Holy of Holies. And that was where the blood
was applied. That was the throne of God. That's where his presence
was. And he said so in the book of
Exodus, but nobody ever went there and sat on that throne. But this man so finished the
work, so offered the perfect sacrifice, so paid the debt,
so honored the Lord God, so accomplished the work that it says that he
sat down on the right hand of God. That tells me two things. Number
one, he finished the work. And since he sat down on the
right hand of God, that means God was pleased and satisfied
and glorified with that work. Now it seems to me that a real
sinner, which is what I am, would be interested in no greater
thing than a sacrifice for sins, for a perfect work for sin, for
an already accepted by God work on their behalf. And they would not find it anymore
to be a good news. But notice in verse 14 what this
man did by this one offering. Everything about this is good,
good news to a sinner. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Now that word, perfected, means to complete. It means to accomplish. It means to accomplish a goal. And it is a word that is used
and it's words that are akin to it used several times in the
scripture in regard to the work of Christ. Let me read you one in John chapter
17. John 17 in verse 4. Christ praying
to the Father. He said, I have glorified thee
on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. That word finished there is basically
the same word. perfected, accomplished. Look over down in verse 23 of
John 17. He says of these that were given
him out of the world, I in them and thou in me, that they may
be made perfect in one and that the world may know that thou
has sent me and has loved them as thou has loved me. perfected,
made perfect, same word. In Hebrews chapter 12, he describes the church, the
church of Christ as the general assembly, verse 23, to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men,
made perfect, brought to glory, made righteous,
sinless, with the first place. And maybe the most important
place where we find that word is in
John 19. John 19 and verse 30. When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, he said, it is finished. You see, those three words are
really just one word in the Greek, and it conveys the same thought.
It is perfected. It is accomplished. The goal
has been made and met. It's finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up. He put away sin. He turned away
the wrath of God. He reconciled us to God. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law. He defeated his and our enemies. And he perfected all that he
died for. Because he died a substitutionary
death. He made an end of sin. He saved
them to the uttermost. He finished the work. He redeemed
us to God. He brought in everlasting righteousness. And without our help, before
we were ever born, how can we ever seek glory in something
that was accomplished before we were born? And when he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down. Men show him a Jesus, a great
teacher, so many things. But they don't
show him and preach him sat down at the right hand of God as the
finisher of our faith, the finisher of salvation. As the one who
by one offering, the offering of himself, one time perfected
And you and I cannot even imagine what that really means. How long? Forever. Forever. All God's people are
perfect forever. That's the way He views them
in His Son. They have no sin. There are a whole lot of people,
preachers, worried about sinning. We all sin. And the more some
people preach to us not to, and what it is to, Ron, the more
we sin. Just like taking that young child
and telling him over and over, don't you do this. The more you tell him not to
do it, the more you warn him about that again and again and
again, you know what he's gonna do the first chance he gets?
He's gonna do it. Because fallen nature wants that
which it cannot have, wants to do that which it cannot do, wants
instruction rather than hearing about the finished work of Christ. He sat down and he perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Who are they? Do they get to
the place they don't sin anymore? Do they wave their hands and
shout hallelujah? Who are the sanctified? That
word just simply means separated. Separated unto God. He's the one who chose us in
divine sovereign election. He separated us unto himself
and we're separated sanctified only because He did so. We were
sanctified in Christ when He went to that cross. He didn't
go to generally redeem every person. He went there to lay
down His life for the sanctified, for those that God had chosen
and given to Him out of this world. and who are sanctified by this gospel. The gospel preacher, when he
preaches the gospel, he's a lot like that cowboy on
a quarter horse, what they call a cutting horse. And he rides and he works with
the cattle to just cut out those of the herd that he wants or
that has the brand of his ranch owner. That's what the gospel
does, the true gospel. It's to be preached to everyone,
but it's not for everyone. It's for his sheep. So that's kind of the way the
gospel works when it's preached. It's like that cutting horse
that separates. It's a saver of life unto life
to some, saver of death unto death to others. When Paul preached it, there
were a multitude that turned their backs on it and walked
away from it. We don't want to hear this gospel. But then it says, but as many,
as were ordained unto eternal life, believed. They said, no, we'll not hear
this gospel. But God gave some ears to hear
it. My sheep hear my voice, and they
follow me. John 17. These words spake Jesus
and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has
come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. That's who he's gonna give eternal
life to. Verse 14 says, I have given them
thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are
not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not
that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou
shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them. Through thy truth,
thy word is truth. They're going to hear this gospel, which is about this man, who
he was and what he actually did. which is saved, saved his people
from their sins. By nature, men and women want something
new every day. Challenge me, tell me something
to do. feed me with worthless information, worthless Bible
information. The God's people want to hear
the gospel. They want to hear about this man. Our Father, we
thank you for this man. He truly is all our hope. all our righteousness, all our
salvation, all our interest. We thank you for him, for his
blood, for his work and sacrifice and
offering by which he has perfected his people forever. We pray in his name. Amen.