Would you turn back to Hebrews
chapter 10? Happy Father's Day. You know, in trying to pray something that
I pray every day, first of all, is that the Lord would let me
be found in Christ. And I ask him that he'd make
me to be a man after his own heart. And I asked him to make
me a pastor after his own heart. And then I asked him to make
me a husband after his own heart. And I asked him to make me a
father after his own heart. And I asked him to make me a
friend, somebody who's a real friend after his own heart. That's
something I believe the Lord should cause us to seek daily. Happy Father's Day and may the
Lord give us grace to be truly fathers after his own heart. What a responsibility. Vacation
Bible schools this week. Okay. I'm looking forward to
that. That's a blessed time and I'm
looking forward to teaching the high school kids. Tonight, I will be speaking from
John chapter 17, verse 4, where the Lord said, I've glorified
thee on the earth. I finished the work thou gavest
me to do. And next week, we will finish
up the book of Ecclesiastes. It's been such a blessing going
through that in Bible study. And the following week after
that, I want us to start a study, and I don't know how long it's
going to take, but we're going to see what the Bible has to
say about marriage. And I trust that'll be a blessing to our
assembly. Hebrews chapter 10. I wanna read verses 11 through
18 of Hebrews chapter 10. And every priest standeth, talking
about the Old Testament priests, daily ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. 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. Whereof, this one offering that
he has perfected forever them that are sanctified, whereof
the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that he had
said before, This is the covenant that I'll make with them after
those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts and in their minds will I write them. And their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission
of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Now, if there's a more thrilling
passage in the Word of God than that, I'm not aware of it. I've entitled this message, Perfected
Forever, and how we need the Holy Spirit to teach us what
this passage means. You know, this is the truth that
he bears witness to because verse 15 says, whereof the Holy Ghost
also is a witness to us. He bears witness to us regarding
the truth of what is being said here. This is what he bears testimony
to. Oh, that he would bear witness
this morning. I love that song. Come Holy Spirit,
heavenly dove with all thy quickening powers come shed abroad a Savior's
love, and that will kindle ours. Now in verse 11, speaking of the Old Testament
priests, and every priest standeth. There were no chairs because
their work was never finished. There was never a time when they
could sit down. There's always something else to do. Repeating
the same thing over and over again. Every priest standeth
daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices
which can never take away sins. What a job that must have been. Every day, morning and evening,
slaying the bull, slaying the lamb, slaying the goat. Same
thing over and over again. Go to bed one night, slay the
lamb for the evening sacrifice. Get up in the morning, slay the
lamb for the morning sacrifice. Over and over and over again. And these continual, repeated
sacrifices could never take away sins. And they knew that. They knew that. I don't know,
there are probably some of them that had light as to this coming,
pointing to the coming Lamb, and there were some that were
just going through the motions. But it was a daily, continual thing. And these things could never
take away sins. But this man, verse 12, but this
man, and I think it's very interesting, in the original, man is not there,
this self, This being, this man, this God, this priest, this one. But this man, this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins, unlike the other priests
who often offered times the same sacrifice, he offered one sacrifice
for sins forever. He sat down on the right hand
of God. He only offered one sacrifice
because His sacrifice did what the many sacrifices could never
do. It took away sin. The sins of all that He died
for are taken away, blotted out, cancelled. They are no more. That means, I have no sin. Isn't that wonderful? If you have some idea of your
sins and to know that before God, I have no sin. He blotted out this man after
he'd offered this one sacrifice for sins forever. Forever. Only one. Forever. He sat down
because His work was finished. He took away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. Turn to Hebrews chapter 1. Do I really believe this? I do. I believe that He actually put
away my sin and I do not have any sin. Do you really believe
that? Verse one, God who at sundry
times and in diverse manners, spake in times passed unto the
fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to
us by his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also
he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and
the express image of his person and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins. He sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high. He sat down at the place of highest
exaltation, having purged, having put away our sins. My sin that's
ever before me, it's not. It's gone. It's purged. Now back to Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 12, but this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, he sat down
on the right hand of God from henceforth expecting till his
enemies be made his footstool. Now the Lord Jesus Christ has
enemies. Boy, I don't want to be his enemy,
do you? I certainly don't want to be somebody that he considers
his enemy. But the Lord Jesus Christ has
enemies, the men of this world. The scripture says, why do the
heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the
earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together against
the Lord and against his Christ. For the truth against thy holy
child, Jesus, whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius
Pilate with the Gentiles and all the people of Israel. That's
everybody, isn't it? That's everybody. We're gathered
together to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. You see, his enemies will be
crushed beneath his feet, made his footstool. Satan is his enemy,
but he's God's devil on God's chain and he will be crushed
beneath the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture says
the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Death is
an enemy, but he put to death death by his own death. All of
his enemies will be destroyed, verse 14, for by one offering,
that's talking about his death on the cross, He hath, that means
He's done it. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Now, who is it that He's perfected? them that are sanctified. Doesn't
say perfected everybody, does it? Says He perfected forever
them that are sanctified. Them that are set apart by God. Set apart in eternal election
with the... He chose them to be sanctified. Sanctified by the Son when He
redeemed them. Sanctified by the Spirit of God. That's who
He's perfected forever. The sanctified. Every believer,
every saint. He's perfected them forever.
Now, What does this mean to be perfected forever? That's a perfectly
completed work. Perfected forever. It knows nothing
of a repetition. It doesn't need to be done again.
It can't be this and old. It's perfected forever. What
does it mean to be perfected forever? Well, if you're perfect,
that means you've never done anything wrong and you have always
done that which is right." That's a good place to be, isn't it?
You've never done anything wrong. And you've always done that which
is right. To be perfected means you are
sinless. It means you have no sin. Now
somebody may be thinking, this just sounds like pie in the sky
because I'm aware of all kinds of sin in my heart. Well, keep
listening. Keep listening. He hath It's a work already done. He hath perfected forever. He's
made it to where I've never done anything wrong, and I've always
done that which is right. I am justified. I am sanctified. I am glorified. I'm holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in His sight. And this is not just, I'm not
just talking about a legal standing or a piece of paper that says
I'm that way. I'm talking about a state of being. I am perfected
forever because He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Turn with me to Psalm 119 for
a moment. Hold your finger there on Hebrews 10. Psalm 119. I used to have such
a hard time with this psalm. I understand what it means now.
Look at the way this psalm begins. Blessed are the undefiled in
the way. My marginal reading says blessed
are the perfect. Blessed are the undefiled in
the way who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that
keep His testimonies and that seek Him with the whole heart.
They also, what? Do no iniquity. They walk in His ways. Now, that's a description of
every believer. They do know iniquity. How am I supposed to understand
that? In my experience, I sure don't see this. But yet, this
is the description of every believer. They do know iniquity. Well, the only way this can be
understood is the Gospel. My sin became His. That's why He died. My sin became
His, and His righteousness becomes mine, and this describes me. I'm undefiled. I do no iniquity. Does that describe Christ? Then
it describes me, and I have such confidence in this. substitution
the gospel he became what I am I become what he is this is the
gospel for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified now go back to Hebrews chapter 10 For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified." Verse 15, "...whereof the Holy
Ghost also has witnessed us." This is what the Holy Spirit
bears witness to. What I'm telling you is the truth.
And anything contrary to this, God's not in it. This is the
truth of God. This is what God, the Holy Spirit,
bears witness to, that He by this one offering hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. This is the gospel message. Anything
contrary to it is not the gospel message. Now, let's read verse
15 again, where the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us for after
that He'd said before. Now, He repeats what He said
back in Hebrews chapter 8. He repeats a quotation from Jeremiah
31. You know, the repetition proves
good. You know, as soon as we hear it, we believe it, and walk
out the door, we forget it. Have to hear it again. Thank God for
the continual repetition of the truth. Now, look what he says,
verse 16. This is the covenant. You know,
I preached from this a few months ago, but I don't feel bad about
preaching it again because he does here. This is the covenant
that I make with him. This is what the Holy Spirit
bears witness to, and there's two things he bears witness to, the
work of Christ in you and the work of Christ for you. Now get
that, this is very important. This is what God the Holy Spirit
bears witness to, what He teaches you. He bears witness to the
work of Christ in you and the work of Christ for you. Now,
keep that in mind as we read this passage of Scripture. This
is the covenant that I'll make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts and in their
minds will I write them. That's the work of Christ in
you. the work of Christ in you. And,
verse 17, their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. That's the work of Christ for
you. Now, where remission of these
is, there's no more offering for sin. What did God, did He
give me the grace to say what is being said in this passage
of Scripture? This is what the Holy Spirit bears witness to.
He says, I'll put my laws in their minds and write them in
their hearts. This is the work of Christ in
you. You see, when he does something
for a sinner, he does something on the inside. And he does a
work of grace in them. He gives a new heart. He writes
on the heart. And he puts his laws within the
heart. Now, what's that mean, laws within
the heart? A lot of people have looked at
that and said, well, you know, the Ten Commandments are written
in your heart. It's not just out on stone, but they're written
in your heart. No, those commandments are already written on everybody's
heart. It's already in the heart of every man that is born into
this world. Everybody knows it's wrong to
steal. Everybody knows it's wrong to kill. Everybody knows it's
wrong to covet. Everybody knows sexual sin is
wrong. These are things that we're born with, God's law written
in our heart. I don't know how many times people
said, you need to teach us how to live or we need to be... You
already know how to live. You really do. You know you ought
to pay your bills, don't you? You know you ought to be good
parents. You know these things. Everybody knows. Turn to Romans
chapter 2. Let me show you this in the scriptures so you'll know
that this is not talking about the law. Let's talk about God's
laws written in the heart. Verse 14, For when the Gentiles, which
have not the law, they never had a Bible, they never had the
oracles of God, they never had a copy of the Ten Commandments.
When the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature You
see that? By nature, the things contained
in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves
which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness in their thoughts that meanwhile
accusing or excusing one another. Now, everybody's born with this
knowledge of the law in their heart, and this is what's going
to make them do. It's going to make them either have an accusing
conscience and feel guilty, or it's going to make them try to
come up with an excuse for why they broke it. Everybody has this law already
written in their heart. I had it the moment I was born,
and so do you. When he's talking about these
laws written in the heart, he's talking about what Paul was talking
about in Romans chapter 8 verse 2, when he talked about the law
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. That's made me free from
the law of sin and death. Now, did you hear what he said?
The law, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. This
is the law, when he's talking about the laws written in the
heart, he's talking about the laws of the new nature, the spiritual
laws. You know, we have laws of physics.
We have physical laws, law of gravity. Everything's drawn to
the center of the earth. What comes up? What goes up? What happens? Comes down. That's
a law of gravity. It's all a physical law. Well,
there are spiritual laws that govern a believer. Every believer
has these. Now, I want you to listen to
these real carefully because you can leave this place knowing
whether or not you have these laws operating in your heart. Now, he says, my laws, I'll write
in their mind and put them in their heart. He says he's going
to do that. And if you're a believer, you're going to have these six
laws that I'm going to give you. And you're going to see it. Now,
in the scripture, we read of the law of righteousness. This
is in the New Testament. And these are the six laws that
govern a believer. The law of righteousness, the
law of sin, the law of faith, the Law of Liberty, the Law of
Love, and the Law of Christ. These six laws are written in
the heart of every believer. Now see if it's written in your
heart. You can know whether God has written in your heart the
Law of Righteousness. Look in Romans 9. Romans 9. Verse 30. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed
not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even
the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed
after the law of righteousness, have not attained to the law
of righteousness. They didn't get it while the
Gentiles did. How come? Because they sought it not by
faith, but as it were by the works of the law, the law of
righteousness. Now what is the law of righteousness?
It's part of the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. The
law of righteousness is a perfect standing before the holy law
of God. It means God's law looks at me
and finds no fault. Perfect righteousness. And you
know the conscience of a believer can't be satisfied with anything
short of absolute righteousness. If you tell me that I've got
a piece of paper that says I'm righteous, but I'm still unrighteous.
If you tell me I've got a legal standing that's righteous but
I'm still unrighteous, my conscience can't be satisfied with that.
The only thing I can be satisfied with is absolute perfect righteousness. Righteous through and through. So when God sees me, all He sees
is righteousness. Now how can that be? That can
only be understood through the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
My sin, which is most real, which is most grievous, which I hate,
became His. So that He was guilty. It was
actually His. And just as truly as my sin became
His. The scripture says the Lord had
laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. If my sin was laid upon
Him, you know what? It's not on me. It can't be two
places at once. If it became His and it did,
His righteousness becomes mine so that I am the very righteousness
of God. That's the only thing that a
believer can find any satisfaction in. It's not enough for me to
not feel guilty. I have to have nothing to feel
guilty about. Can you find satisfaction in
that? The law of righteousness. Christ is my righteousness before
God. Can't be satisfied with anything
less. This is the work of Christ in you. Secondly, the law of
sin. All I'm going to do is read a
passage from Romans 7 and I'll explain what that is. Romans chapter
7, verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that's good. Now then it's no more I
that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me,
that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me. I mean, I would be without sin. But how to get there? How to
perform that which is good? I find not. For the good that I would, I
don't do it. But the evil which I would not,
that I do. Now if I do that which I would
not, it's no more I that do it, but the sin that dwells in me.
I find then a law that when I would do good, Evil is present with
me, for I delight in the law of God after the inward man.
I love God's holy law, but I see another law at my members, warring
against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? I thank God
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then with the mind, I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. Now you have to have a new man
to see that old man, don't you? And if you have a new man, it's
obvious to you, you have two natures. You have a holy nature
and you have an evil nature. I don't have to convince somebody
that has two natures of that. They see it. The law of sin. Now in Romans 3, verse 27, remember God says,
I'll write my laws in their hearts and put them in their minds.
Verse 27, where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Works? Nay, but by the law of
faith. Now, faith is not something you
choose. I'm going to choose to believe.
You don't choose to believe. You find yourself believing.
It's the believer's nature to believe. God's done something
for you. You cannot not believe. Now your
old man, your old nature, all it has is unbelief. You realize
that? All it has is unbelief. That's, you know, the fellow
that says, I believe, help thou my unbelief. My old nature is
filled with unbelief, but I cannot not, my new nature believes.
I don't choose to believe, like I don't choose to breathe. Before
I take a breath, I'm going to say, I'm going to choose to breathe.
No, I just breathe. That's what life does. And a believer believes. He believes the gospel. It's
his nature to believe and he cannot not believe. I've told you this before, but
I think this illustrates, I think, what I'm saying. I remember about
20 years ago when I was on chemotherapy, I was taking a medication for
my stomach that I thought would help me, and I did some switching
on the medications, and I turned into just utter depression. Totally bleak. I didn't even
believe. I didn't believe in God, and
I was getting up and preaching like that. Just put it on automatic
and just go through the motions. I was so depressed. Just this
bleak outlook. Oh, I was so miserable. I didn't
have any faith. I could not come up with faith.
I couldn't believe to save my life. I felt like I was an atheist. I'll tell you what. I knew at
that time. that the only hope I had was
if Christ died for me, that if Christ does it all. I knew for
sure then that the only hope I had was Christ because I couldn't
even come up with the faith. And I really believe, that's
probably the closest I've ever come to really believing. Faith more pure then had nothing
to hang on but Christ. You see, even in my unbelief,
I couldn't not believe. That's a believer, the law of
faith. And then we read of the law of
liberty, we read of that in James 1.25 and James 2.12, a believer
must have liberty. I've got to have liberty. I can't
be in bondage. I must have liberty. You know
what freedom is? Liberty? You're liberated when
you don't owe anything. You don't owe a thing. You're
liberated when you get to do what you want to do. Now, Galatians
5.1, Paul says, you stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ
has made us free and don't be entangled again in that yoke
of bondage. Now, hear me. Hear me. I don't try to keep
the law. I've kept it. I've kept it. Am I saying that
I'm, you know, I don't need to, it's okay to go ahead and lie
and cheat and steal and kill. Of course, I'm not saying that.
Of course, I'm not saying that. But the law has already been
kept for me. I kept the law. When Christ kept
the law, I kept it. And I'm not, by the grace of
God, going to be entangled in the bondage of trying to earn
God's favor. Always something to do. I've
kept it. That's liberating, isn't it?
I stand before the law of God perfect. And right now, I'm doing
what I want to do. Preach the gospel. I want to
do this. I want to be with you. That's
my want to. Most people's religion is such
an unhappy thing. It's not doing what they really
want to do and doing what they really don't want to do. But
thank God for liberty. Oh, the law of liberty. And then we read of the law of
love. In James chapter 2, I think it's
verse 8, the royal law of love. See, this is a believer's nature.
It's his nature to love God. I love God. as He is. I love Him as He's revealed in
the Scriptures. I love His attributes. I love His holiness. I love His
justice. I love His sovereignty. I love
His wisdom. I love His mercy. I love His
grace. I love Him as He is. I love the
way He saves sinners all by His grace, don't you? That's my nature
to love God. It's my nature to love you. He
that loveth Him that begat loveth Him also that's begotten of Him.
It's my nature to love you. I've got a new nature. Law of
righteousness, can't be satisfied with anything but righteousness.
Law of sin, I see that all I am is sin, in and of myself. Law
of faith, I must believe, it's my nature to believe. Law of
liberty, I must have liberty. That's my nature. Law of love,
I must love God. I must love His people. I must
love men enough to tell them the truth and preach the gospel
to them. I love that passage of Scripture Claire wrote. Claire read. Sorry, Claire. That was a real... Be perfect. Love, love the fulfilling
of the law. And the last is the law of Christ. Let's look at that in Galatians
chapter six. I'm going over these fast, I know, because I want
to get to the other part. Galatians chapter six. And this is the work of God in
you, writing his laws in your heart, and you know whether you
have these things. Verse one, brethren, If a man be overtaken
in a fault, you which are spiritual, nail him to the wall, excommunicate
him, bring him up before the church, expose him. No, you which
are spiritual restore such in one in the spirit of meekness. Considering thyself, Lest thou
also be tempted." Now that means that you really believe that
if you were tempted the way that brother was, you would do the
same thing, probably worse. You really believe that? You
believe that? You can't look down your nose
in moral superiority over anybody for anything. Now, you which
are spiritual, You restore such a one in the spirit of meekness.
Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted, bear ye one
another's burdens." That doesn't mean tell everybody what's in
your heart. It doesn't mean share your secrets. It means put up with one another. Put up with it. That fellow's
sins a burden to him. Your sins a burden to you. Fellow's
in the same ship. put up with one another. Bear
ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."
That's the law of Christ. And you know, there's something
in a believer. He can't look down at somebody else. God's
given him enough light about himself to know he's the chief
of sinners. Bear ye one another's burdens,
so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to
be something when he's nothing, He deceiveth himself. Now that is God's, back to our
text in Hebrews 10. That's God's laws written in
the heart. That's what makes a fellow like Lot. Not a whole
lot to Lot, is there? If you read his history, not
a whole lot to him. But you know what God says about
that man, the testimony of the Holy Spirit? He calls him just
lot. That righteous man. He talks about his righteous
soul being vexed. What a gospel. Now back to our
text in Hebrews 10. This is the covenant that I'll
make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my
laws into their hearts. And if He puts them there, they're
there. And in their minds will I write, verse 17, and their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Back to Hebrews 8. Here's where He said it again.
Verse 12. Hebrews 8.12, For I will be merciful,
I will be propitious to their unrighteousness and their sins
and their iniquities will I remember no more. I'll be propitious. Now this
is Christ's work for you. We've been talking about His
work in you. Here's His work for you. I will be propitious. That means I will remove my reason
for anger by the removing of sin and making it to be no more. Now this is the only way God
can forget something is if there's nothing there for Him to remember.
Now you know that. God's not going to forget about something
the way we forget about something. He sees all, He knows all. The
only way He could not remember my sin is if there's nothing
there to remember. What a blessed place to be. I
have no sin. God can't remember my sin because
there isn't any sin for Him to remember. 1 John 3, 4 and 5 says
sin is the transgression of the law. And He was manifested to
take away our sin. And in Him is no sin. That means if I'm in Him, I have
no sin. Their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. My sin was laid upon Him and
it's not on me. He put away my sin. He perfected
me forever. Right now. Now the last verse. Hebrews 10. Now. Where remission of these is, there's no more offering for
sin. So don't try to bring an offering. Because the offering of the Lord
Jesus Christ actually put away sin. Don't you try and bring
an offering. Don't bring your experience.
Don't bring your repentance. Don't bring your good intentions. Don't bring your sorrow. Don't
bring your good works. Don't bring your promise of reform.
That's an insult to God. Where the remission of these
is, there's no more offering for sin, so don't try to bring
one. Now, simply believe right now
that what He did is your salvation. Who He is and what He did. You
know, it's an amazing thing about faith. It's the hardest thing
in the world and it's the easiest thing in the world. You know,
the hardest thing you're ever called upon to do or I'm ever
called upon to do is to trust Christ alone and look nowhere
else. To believe That's the hardest
thing to do, to look nowhere else, yet it's the easiest thing
to do. It's easy to trust Him as my
righteousness before God when I really am bankrupt of righteousness
myself. It's easy. You see that? It's
the hardest thing, and yet it's the easiest thing. Now, where remission of these
is, Where is remission of these? In the Lord Jesus Christ. Where
remission of these is, where sin is put away, where sin is
remitted, where it's gone. No more offering for sin, so
don't you try and bring one. Simply trust the Lord Jesus Christ. And remember this, He hath perfected
forever. It's already been done. He said,
I've glorified Thee on the earth. I've finished the work Thou gavest
Me to do. He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. I always
hear people say, I've said, how many times have you said, I'm
not perfect? I am in Christ. I am. Thank God for the glorious
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray together.