I invite you to turn back with
me now to Hebrews chapter 10. While you're turning to the text,
I want to say a few things about this epistle of Paul. It doesn't
say that Paul wrote it, but I'm convinced that it does. If you
read Paul's epistles, or any of the epistles, you'll see the
writer's personality in the epistle. You can tell it with Peter, you
can tell it with John, you can tell it with Paul. You can see
his person, his attitude, everything
about him, it bleeds out into his epistles. And I know they're
inspired of God, they're spiritually inspired, and he wrote as he
was moved by the Holy Spirit, and yet the Holy Spirit allowed
these men's character to bleed through into the writings. And
I'm convinced that Paul wrote this epistle to the Hebrews. And one of the things I want
to point out to you before we get into our message is that
it's written by one who had great love, concern, and hope for the
Jews. In Romans chapter nine, verse
one, Paul said, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not. My conscience
also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost that I have great
heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish
that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen,
according to the flesh. This man loved his people. He loved his people. Paul knew
their errors. He knew their deceit, their self-righteousness. He knew their ignorance of the
gospel. But he loved them. He loved them. And God granted
him to write this epistle to them. And then secondly, the
writer of the book is inspired by the Holy Ghost to show the
absolute superiority of Christ over all things. All things. Hebrews 1 and 2 shows his superiority
over the prophets and over the angels. God spoke in times past
in various ways. He spoke to our fathers through
the prophets. But in this last day, he's speaking
unto you by his Son. By his Son. His Son is what the
prophets preach. To him give all the prophets
witness. They witnessed about Christ. They had no message of
their own. They didn't just preach a religious
message, trying to beat people back into some kind of morality
or reformation. They preached Christ, the coming
Redeemer. That's the thing. The old Old
Testament says somebody's coming. Somebody's coming. And Paul shows
you the superiority of Christ over the prophets and of the
angels. The angels are just ministering
spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of
salvation. But Christ, Christ, he's the
head of all things. He's the head of all things.
Hebrews 3 declares his superiority over Moses. Moses was a faithful
servant. He was faithful in all his house.
But Christ, he said, is a son over his own house. He's a son
over his own house. This is his house. He's not a
servant in the house. It's his house. It's his house. And I'll tell you something.
I have a house. It's mine. And if I want to Be
a servant in it? I can be, but it doesn't change
things. It's still my house. If I want to sweep it, it's my
house. If I want to mop it, it's my house. If I want to ignore
it, it's my house. He has superiority over Moses. Moses was a servant in the house
of God. He served God's elect. He led
God's elect. He taught God's elect. He guided
them through the wilderness. But Christ is a son over his
own house. It's his house. Hebrews 4 shows us the superiority
of Christ over all the ceremonies. He said Christ is our Sabbath
of rest. Untold millions still try to
keep the Sabbath day. There's no rest on the Sabbath
day. There's no rest in that day. My soul, after the seventh
day, that's when man fell, wasn't it? Sure, there ain't no rest
in a day. The rest is in whom God rested. It's in Christ. He's our rest. He shows us the superiority of
Christ. And then in Hebrews chapter six,
he shows us his superiority over all other hopes. Our hope in Him goes past a simple
wish. Well, I just hope I'm going to
be saved. Well, try hoping that it don't
rain. Let's see how that works for
you. Huh? It goes past a mere wish. It's
not that I, boy, I hope God saves me. No. No, it goes past that. Our hope is in Him. And like
an anchor, he's went in beyond the veil. And that anchor's attached
to our soul. And he went beyond the veil.
Hope in him is a sure hope. It's a good hope through grace.
We hope in him. Hebrews 7 shows us his superiority
over the priesthood. He tells us there were countless
priests, countless priests, because they died. They could not continue
by reason of death. That's what he tells us about
the priesthood. They served so long, and then
they died. And then whoever was behind him,
he took over. And he served as a priest, and
he served for however many years, and then he died. And then a
new one had to come along and serve him. There were countless
priests, because they died. But Christ just made a priest
after the order of Melchizedek. Without father or mother, without
descent, having neither beginning of days or end of life, made
like unto the Son of God. His priesthood is unchangeable.
Unchangeable, no replacement. Nobody can fill in for him, nobody
can replace him. He's a priest forever, that's
what God said. He's a priest forever after the
order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 8 tells us of his superiority
to the old covenant. You see, Christ has obtained
a more excellent ministry by how much also he's the mediator
of a better covenant established on better promises. The old covenant said do this
and live, do this and die. The new covenant all rests on
Christ. What he did, what he's doing. And then Hebrews 9 declares his
superiority over all the old sacrifices. By his own blood,
Paul said, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. Now most of us, like the Jews,
were steeped in falsehood and traditional concepts and principles
of the world. And like the Jews of old, we
need to be taught the truth. We need to hear the truth. I
don't want you to leave here and say, well, I didn't understand
anything you said. Somebody ask you, well, what
do y'all preach over there? I don't know. I don't know. Different. No, I want you to know. I want
you to understand. I want you to be able to answer.
And most of us, like them, we need to be taught. And the way
to show error is not just to declare error. I can stand up
here and preach on error for hours and hours and hours. I
can preach on it because I see it in myself. It's just like
putting a DVD in. I can just see it. I can see
all these things, and I can talk about it, and I can enter into
it. But the way to show error is not to talk about error, but
rather to lay out the truth right beside of it. That's what you
do. And what I hope to do this morning
is to show you the superiority of Christ over all things. There's
nothing out there. If you're still looking for something,
something to sink your teeth into, something to stand on,
something that's gonna give you some hope for eternity, if you're
still looking, there's nothing out there. There's Christ and
nothing. Now that's the way it is. That's
the way it is. And those who see that superiority
of Christ over all things, they rest in Christ. He's sufficient. That's why those Thessalonians,
he said, when my gospel came to you, it didn't come in word
only. It come in the Holy Ghost and it come in power. And listen,
he said, it come with much assurance. That meant you just felt confident
in yourself? No, that means you were confident
in Him. You heard about Him and you said,
wow, He's sufficient. He's sufficient. The Christ that
man preaches, He's preaching the Christ that saves. He don't
want to save, He saves. He don't want to redeem, He redeems.
He don't want to be king, He is king. He don't wanna go to
heaven, he's in heaven, he's seated. That's what I wanna do, I wanna
show you the superiority of Christ over all things that deceived
man, rest his soul in. I want to use as my subject this
morning is this, accomplishing the will of God. That's what
Hebrews 10 is all about. accomplishing the will of God.
In the first six verses of Hebrews chapter 10, Paul tells us that
the old covenant was merely a shadow of good things to come. I can
hold my hand up like this and this light shine down on it and
I can see a dark outline. But it don't show no details.
I can look at my arm and I can see veins and I can see hair
on my arm and fingernails and wrinkles and all, I can see that.
In the shadow, obviously, is the vague outline. When Christ
was set before us, that's what he's talking about in Hebrews
chapter three, verse 24. Whom God has set before Christ
to be a propitiation for us, propitiation for our sins through
faith in his blood. He's talking about the Old Testament.
Old Testament, that's where he was set forth. He was set forth
in the blood sacrifices. He was set forth by the old high
priest, taking his blood, going beyond the veil, putting it on
the mercy seat. These were all pictures. Pictures. The law was a shadow, just a
dark impression left by the true object. And he calls them throughout
this book of Hebrews, he calls them figures for the time then
present. He calls them carnal ordinances
imposed on them until the time of reformation. He calls them
patterns of things in the heavens, eternal things, godly things,
true things, heavenly things, necessary things. And my text
begins with a profound declaration. He tells us in verse six, in
burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure.
Way back yonder in the garden, God come in and reconciled Adam
and Eve. And he slayed a lamb. And he
put that lamb on the altar, a burnt sacrifice unto the Lord. And
he took its skins and he clothed it. He didn't have a bit of pleasure
in that lamb. Not any. But the lamb was a figure. See what I'm saying? They saw
that lamb, and he told them what that lamb was. That lamb is a
picture of the coming redeemer. How do I know that? Because as
soon as Eve bore her first child, she said, I have begotten the
man, the man, the promised man, the promised redeemer. He told
her that through the seed of the woman, Way back yonder in
Genesis 3.15, the seed of the woman going to bruise Satan's
head. Going to bruise Satan's head. So she thought she had
begotten the Savior. But it wasn't. It wasn't. Oh
my soul, these are just figures. They're just pictures. And he's
telling us in these burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, God had
no pleasure. He had no pleasure. Now, I wouldn't
know where to begin to estimate how many lambs, turtle doves,
heifers, bullocks, and goats that were slain and offered up
as a sacrifice to God for sins. At the dedication of the temple,
it was something monumental that was sacrificed just for that.
But they had daily sacrifices. They had annual sacrifices. They
had sacrifices for the holy days. There's one sacrifice right after
the other. I'd be afraid to say how many
gallons of blood that was shed under the law. Oh, why? Why so much blood? Why so many
sacrifices? He tells us in verse three, Hebrews
chapter 10. Because in these sacrifices,
there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. Why? Because it is not possible that
the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. They kept
offering these things because God was setting before them the
coming Redeemer. And so they kept. But Israel
looked to the blood of that goat. They looked to the blood of the
heifer, the turtle dove, whatever it was they were offering. They
looked to its blood, thinking God was satisfied with that.
No, He's not satisfied with that. That's just a picture. That's
just a picture. Hebrews 10, 7, he said, then
said I, lo, I come. Who's that? That's Christ. I come. Now watch this. In the volume of the book, it's
written of me. What's written of me? I come
to do thy will, O God. Salvation can only come by accomplishing
the will of God. What is this will of God that
Christ speaks of? What's he talking about? It's
his redemptive will. It's his redemptive will. God's
gonna save a people. He demonstrated that in the garden.
When Adam fell, who was the federal head of all mankind, under normal
circumstances, God would have just wiped out this race and
started over. But that wasn't his purpose in
creation. His purpose in creation is to show his glory, to manifest
his glory in the salvation of a people, a fallen people, a
sinful people. God's purpose is the purpose
of redemption. And it's the reason for all things. It's the reason why you and I
have a being. It's the reason why God's intervened
in your life. It's the reason why we don't
draw back to perdition and why we believe to the saving of the
soul because God has a redemptive purpose. It's the reason for all things.
It's the purpose in creation that God manifest His glory.
And Paul talks about our Redeemer in Colossians 1 as being the
firstborn of all creation. All things were created by him
and for him, and by him all things have a continuance. It pleased
the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. In John 6
he said, I come not to do my own will, but the will of him
that sent me. And this is the will of my Father
whom I sent me, that of all which he had given me, I should lose
nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. In the volume of the book, he
said, it's written to me. I come to do thy will. And look
here in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 8. He said, above when
he said sacrifice and offering and burnt offering and offering
for sin, thou wouldest not, neither had 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, the
first. that he may establish the second. What did he take away? He took
away the first covenant. He took away the priesthood.
He took away the ceremonial law. He took away the law, period. He took away the types and figures.
He took away the sacrifices. He took away the holy days. He
blotted out, Paul said in Colossians 2, the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us and took it out of the way, nailing it
to his cross. I come to do thy will, O God,
to reveal it, to accomplish it, to demonstrate it, and to finish
it. When he cried on that cross,
it's finished, it wasn't a sigh of relief that he didn't have
to suffer anymore. He was saying when he said it's
finished, he was saying the will of God concerning my death on
the cross and your salvation is finished. It's finished, it's
done. Listen to this, Hebrews 10.10,
by the which will, that is the accomplishing of that will by
Christ, God's redemptive will. By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of Jesus Christ once for all. Once for all. Think about that.
God sanctified us. He set us apart. He declared us holy. over all
meanings of sanctification. He chose us in Christ that we
might be holy, that's what He said. And we're made holy. Made holy
by that sacrifice of His on the cross. Now there's three things
that are necessary to a right understanding of all these verses.
The man, The man of whom the Holy Ghost here declares. And
what this man did after accomplishing the redemptive will of God. And
then the expectation of this man sitting at the right hand
of God, having accomplished these things, ascended into glory,
and sat down. So what's his expectation? I
hire you to do a job, Russell. I hire you to haul me some limestones.
What do I expect? I expect you to haul me some
thought. I'll pay you for it. I expect you to do it. When he
sat down, what was his expectation? He already did the work. He already
accomplished the will of God. What's his expectation? So let's
begin here with the man. Who is this man? Well, in the
verses I've been reading to you, he's been set before us as the
great high priest. Look at verse 11 of Hebrews chapter
10. And every priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oft times the same sacrifices, which
can never take away sins. You remember our studies in the
book of Exodus? The priest and their duties inside
the tabernacle? They stood all day. Every day,
day in, day out. There were four pieces of furniture
in the tabernacle, not one chair. Not one chair. They had no place to sit because
their work never done. Their work was a figure, a type,
a picture of Christ whom God has set forth to be the propitiation
for our sins and that which enables God to be just in our justification. His blood was typified in the
sacrifices so that we might have faith in His blood, that is,
in the sufficiency of His blood. Believing that His blood was
sufficient to satisfy God. and to declare his righteousness
in the remission of our sins. He said it's not possible that
the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins and so
they stood and ministered and they died and another took their
place and he stood and ministered. Now watch this, verse 12. But this man, this man, this
man that I've been telling you about from Hebrews chapter one,
I've been showing you his superiority since Hebrews chapter one. This
man, not your concept of a man, not religion's concept of a man,
this man, this man of whom the prophets declared, this man whom
God set apart, this is my beloved son, hear ye him. Him whom God
appointed heir of all things, this man. This God-man, this
priest after the order of Melchizedek, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. Oh, what
a man. What a man. All right, here's
the second thing I want you to see. I want you to see what this
man did when he ascended into glory, having satisfied God. It said, but this man, after
he'd offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down. Oh my, he sat down. Religion has him bringing his
hands and looking over the banister of heaven and crying because
he can't get his way among the people and I want to save you
but you won't let me and they'll just cry and talk about it. That
ain't Christ. Christ sat down. He's not worried. He ain't shaking in his shoes,
he ain't crying. He sat down. Where'd he sit? At the right
hand of God. Oh, my soul. After he'd offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, not gonna be in need of another one. That
one did the job. That one paid the bill. So what's the significance of
a sitting priest? Well, it tells me his work is
finished. He couldn't sit down if it wasn't
finished. He come to do God's redemptive will. Are we redeemed?
Must be. He sat down. He sat down. In John 5, 36, Christ said his
father gave him a work to finish. I didn't give him a work to try.
He didn't give him a work to hope. He gave him a work to finish. That's why he came. He wasn't
sent to begin something that man would be expected to finish.
He was not sent to do all he could do and leave the rest up
to us. God sent him to finish the work of redemption. The Holy Ghost spoke through
Daniel in Daniel chapter 9. And he declared the coming Redeemer. Listen to what he says. He said,
70 weeks are determined upon the people and upon the holy
city to finish the transgression. What's he gonna do? He's gonna
put an end to it. Gonna put an end to it. Gonna wipe it out.
He's gonna finish the transgression. He's gonna make an end of sins. Oh my soul, an end of sins. And to make reconciliation for
iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up
the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
That's what this coming Redeemer is going to do. And he sat down
declaring that the work was accomplished. Where did he sit? At the right
hand of God. At the right hand, Paul said,
when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right
hand of majesty on high. He sat down. The right hand is
reserved for the beloved. And here's something to think
about. What's all this got to do with me? In Ephesians 2.6. It says he raised us up together
in Christ and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. Did he sat down? I sat down with
him. Is he seated at the right hand
of God? I'm seated with him. Has God approved of everything
he did? God approves of me. Huh? If I'm in Christ. What's the significance of a
sitting priest? He sits on the right hand of
power. He said, all power is given to me in heaven and earth.
Now you go preach. You go preach. In John 17 too,
he tells us that the Father has given him power over all flesh,
that he should give eternal life to as many as the Father had
given him. Is he seated where that power
is? He's seated at the right hand of God. And then fourthly,
the right hand is a place of intercession. The one who sits
at God's right hand can be fully trusted. He's finished his work,
and the work has been fully approved. And his sitting constitutes our
standing. You think about that. As long
as he sits, I have a standing. I have a standing. Romans 8,
verses 29 through 30, declare his elect already glorified in
him. Whom he did predestinate, them
he also called. And whom he called, them he did
also justify. And whom he justified, them he
also did glorify. That's all past tense, ain't
it? He said that 2,000 years ago. So who is this man? He's God
come into the flesh. He's beloved Son, whom he appointed
heir of all things. The creator, sustainer of all
things. He's the Lord of glory. And what
did he do? He accomplished the redemptive
will of God and sat down at the Father's right hand. And then
lastly, what is our all-sufficient Savior and Lord doing at the
right hand of God? What is His expectation? What
does He expect to happen in this present evil world Fallen men,
depraved men, ignorant men being drawn this way and that way.
What's his expectation? Sitting at the right hand of
God. Hebrews 10, 13. From henceforth. What's that
mean? From now on. From the day he
sat down at the right hand of God and forever. From henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. He's not willing that any for
whom he died, any given to him of God, any who trust to perish,
but that all should come to repentance. All of them. He's not willing
that sin should reign in the hearts of his people. He's Lord. He's head of all principality
and power. He's not willing that his gospel
should be a fruitless venture. He said, my word will not return
unto me void. It's going to accomplish what
I sent it to do. He's not willing that antichrist
religion should cause a miscarriage in any that believe. We're not
of them who draw back on the perdition. We're of them who
believe to the saving of the soul. Our seated king and high
priest is not expecting defeat. He's expecting that all his enemies
become his footstool. In him, Paul said, dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you're complete in him, now
listen, who's the head of all principality and power. Them
devils, they had old Legion, and he was just filled with demons,
the gathering demoniac, he's filled with all these demons
and everything, and Christ came up, and they said, well, what
have we got to do with you? It's not your time yet. And they
said, Lord, don't just cast us out. Let us go into that herd
of swine. Who they asking permission of?
The Lord of glory. If God is expecting his enemies
to fall at the feet of Christ, then let me expect men to believe. Let me be expecting what He expects. If no enemy can defeat our Savior,
let me expect men to be, let me expect men to understand when
I talk to them, because He's sufficient to make them know.
And if none can stay His hand, let me be bold to declare His
gospel to all men. It's His expectation that motivates
my expectation. Now listen to this, Hebrews 10
verse 14. Here's the reason for his expectation. For, what's that mean? That means because by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. They're
100% even in the sight of God, 100% perfected. What does a man have to be to
be saved? He has to be perfect. Huh? He has to be perfect. But all
his sin comes short of what? The glory of God. You have to
be perfect to be saved. And there's only one way you
can be perfect, and that's in Christ. By that one offering,
he hath perfected forever. Now watch this. And of these
things, The Holy Ghost himself is a witness to us. What is the
Holy Ghost doing in this day? What's he doing in this world
and in the church? Well, he attends the preaching
of the gospel. And he speaks to the hearts and
minds of chosen sinners. And what does he witness? What
does he bless and reveal? Of these things. What things? Who this man is. what this man
did, and where this man is, and what he's doing, what he's doing. He's expecting, whereof the Holy
Ghost also is a witness to us. Oh, he witnesses of his accomplished
redemption, and of his present reign and glory. May the Lord
be pleased to do this in our hearts and minds this morning,
for Christ's sake. Amen.