I couldn't help but open up the
songbook and look at the other version of that. There's a reason
we don't sing it. That was beautiful. Hebrews chapter 10. While you're
turning there, there's a couple of things that I was thinking
about this morning's service that I wish I said, and I thought,
well, I'll go ahead and say them now. You know, I'm talking about
how the Lord always brings evil out of good. And only he can
do that. But something that I forgot to
say. What? I didn't hear it. Only the Lord. Oh, I see. Yeah,
I said, sorry, only the Lord brings good out of evil. Thank
you, Paul. But that sorted story about David
and what he did, it's a sorted story. The Lord came from that
union. He came through the Lion of Bathsheba. Isn't that glorious? The Lord
brings good out of evil. He always does. Always. And another thing I wish I would
have brought out this morning, where David said, I've sinned
against the Lord. You know what Nathan said to
him? The Lord hath put away thy sin. What a response. Hebrews 10. See why I wish I would have said
those things during this morning sermon. That's just one of those
things I just couldn't get back at thinking about. I thought, why
didn't I say that? Every sermon I'm thinking of
something I wish I would have said, but that was pretty stupid
to leave those things out. Hebrews chapter 10. Now this,
is a quotation from, look in verse 5. Wherefore, when he cometh
into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come. In the volume of the book, it's
written of me to do thy will, O God. And this is this quotation
from Psalm 40, where the Lord says, lo, I come. You know, the whole gospel is
in that message right there. That's the gospel. Lo, the word
means behold and see, and it carries with it the idea of surprise. And here's the gospel, lo, I
come. That's a good definition of the
gospel, isn't it? The Lord Jesus says, lo, I come in the volume
of the book it's written of me. I delight to do thy will, oh
God. Now in verse one of this chapter,
the writer says for the law, talking about the 10 commandments,
the sacrifices, the feast days and holy days, the Sabbath days,
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 worshipers once purged
should have no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices,
there's a remembrance again made of sins every year, for it's
not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take
away sins. Now, the law made nothing perfect. The gospel does. The Lord Jesus
coming in the flesh, what he did made every single person
he did it for perfect. The law never satisfies the conscience,
but my conscience is satisfied knowing that Christ is my salvation
before God. My conscience is satisfied that
his blood actually put away my sins. My conscience is satisfied
that I actually have righteousness before God. He is my righteousness
before God, and I'm satisfied. My conscience is satisfied with
that. The law, the sacrifices under
the law could never take away sins, but Christ took away sins. So verse five says, wherefore,
when he cometh into the world, aren't you thankful he came?
He, the Lord Jesus Christ, came into the world. God was manifest
in the flesh. He came. He did what he came to do. That's the gospel, lo, I come.
He came. And He did what He came to do.
He saved His people from their sins. I love to think of it as
finished. I just love thinking about that.
It takes all the pressure off. It's finished. There's nothing.
My salvation's accomplished. It was accomplished before I
had any, hadn't even had the potential to have any hand in
it. He did it. Isn't that wonderful? He did
what He came to do. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. Now, in him coming into the
world, he tells us what God had no desire for or pleasure in.
That's the sacrifices and the offerings of the Old Testament.
God never had any pleasure in those things. They were given
simply to picture what the Lord Jesus does, but God never found
any satisfaction in any of the Old Testament law. As a matter
of fact, look how the writer to the Hebrews describes God's
law. Hebrews 7, verse 16. He's talking about the priesthood
of Christ and he says who is made not after the law of a carnal
commandment, but after the power of an endless life. He calls
God's law a carnal Commandment. Look in verse 18 of the same
chapter. For there's verily a disannulling of the commandment going before
for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. Now he's speaking of
God's holy law and he talks about the weakness and the unprofitableness
of it. Now, why does he use language
like that? Because the law can't save. That's
why. That's the only reason the law
cannot save. Look in chapter 8 verses 7 and
8. For if that first covenant had
been thoughtless, talking about the law, then no place had been
sought for the second. For finding fault with them,
he saith, the Lord found fault with them, it won't save. Look
in verse 13 of chapter 8. In that he saith a new covenant,
he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth
old is ready to vanish away. Do you see how ridiculous it
is for somebody to think that they're still under Old Testament
law in any way? Look what God's Word says about this. He calls
it ready to vanish away. Look what it says about it in
verse 1 of chapter 9. Then verily the first covenant had also ordinance
of divine service and a worldly sanctuary. He calls it a worldly
sanctuary. That's never a good thing. Now
remember, the Old Testament is a shadow, it's a schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ. And the offerings and sacrifices
and the priesthood of the Old Testament, God never desired. He never found satisfaction in
these things, nor do we. The law, I love this scripture,
the law was given by Moses. But grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. Now, the law is true. But the
law is not the truth. It doesn't tell the whole story.
Grace and truth come by Jesus Christ. Now back to Hebrews chapter
10. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me." Now, it's interesting, he
said, a body has thou prepared me, but if you read in the Psalms,
he doesn't say a body has thou prepared me. He says, mine ear
have you opened. And what that's a reference to,
when he talks about mine ear, has thou digged, has thou opened,
what that's a reference to is the law of when the Hebrew slave. He was a Hebrew and he had to
be a slave because he couldn't pay his debts. Let's say he went
in to be a slave. You can read about this in Exodus
21. And he had to be a slave for seven years serving his master. Now, if he married someone during
that time and had children during that time, when he His seven
years were up and he was set free. He couldn't take his kids
with him. He couldn't take his wife with him. They had to stay
servants to his master. But he could say this. He could
say, I love my master. I love my wife. I love my children. I don't want to be set free from
them. I'm going to willingly serve
my master forever. So he would go into after that
seven years was up and he could have gone free. He goes in and
says, I want to be your servant forever because I love you. I
love my wife. I love my children. I don't want
to be set free. Now that's what the Lord Jesus
did. He said, I love my wife. I love my children. So he became
the servant of the living God to stay with us forever. Lo,
I come, mine ear hast thou opened. But when the writer to the Hebrews
talks about it, he says, A body hast thou prepared me. Now this
is talking about the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. A body hast thou prepared me. And this body is like no other
body. This is a sinless body. A perfect body. He came into
the world. A body hast thou prepared me. And in this body, the Lord did
what the Father desired. He did what the Father willed.
He kept God's law perfectly. He did God's pleasure and he
did God's satisfaction and he pleased God in his death. He
satisfied the justice of God. That's why God raised him from
the dead. That body, that perfect body,
the God man did in that body what God required. Verse six, he says in burnt offerings
and sacrifices for sin, thou has had no pleasure. Then said
I, lo, I In the volume of the book it's
written of me to do thy will, O God." Now, what's this talking
about the volume of the book? Lo, I come in the volume of the
book it's written of me. Now, you can't find this anywhere
in the Scriptures as far as this volume of the book he's talking
about. What this is a reference to is that volume in Revelation
chapter 5. Remember, sealed with seven seals,
written frontside and backside, nothing can be added to it? That's
the book of God's decrees. All of God's purposes, all of
God's decrees are written in that book. And in the volume
of that book, it was written of Him, Lo, I come to do Thy
will, O God. Now, in Psalm 40 verse 8, it
says, I delight to do thy will, O God. Yea, thy law is within
my heart. And he delighted in doing the
Father's will. He delighted in God. He delighted
in his will. He delighted in his law. He delighted
in saving his people. He said, I delight to do thy
will, O God. He said in John 4, 34, my meat
is to do the will of him that sent me. He said in John chapter
6 verse 38, I came down from heaven not to do my own will,
but the will of Him that sent me. In Gethsemane's garden, he
prayed, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless,
not my will. but thine be done. And beloved, He did the Father's
will. He said, Lo, I come, in the volume
of the book it's written of me, I delight to do thy will, O God. And that's exactly what He did.
He did the Father's will. When He kept the law, He did
the Father's will. When He was nailed to a cross,
He was doing the Father's will. Remember, it pleased the Lord
to bruise Him. He was doing His Father's will.
This is why He came. When He was raised from the dead,
when He raised Himself from the dead, that's what He did. He
said, I have power to lay it down and I have power to take
it up again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
He had, only God can raise Himself from the dead. He was doing the
Father's will. As He's right now seated at the
right hand of the Father, He is doing the Father's will, representing
us. Verse 7, Then said I, Lo, I come
in the volume of the book. It's written of me to do thy
will, O God. Now above When he said sacrifice
and offering and burn offerings and offering for seeing that
what is not neither has pleasure there in which are offered by
the law. God never required those things. I mean, he never found
true satisfaction. Then said he, verse nine, then
said he, lo, I come to do that will. Oh God, he taketh away
the first that he may establish the second. Now he takes away
the first covenant. that he may establish the second. He takes away the law that he
may establish the gospel. Now this is something that our
God does. He takes away the first and he establishes the second.
What I thought about, I thought about the parable of the marriage
feast where the governor of the feast said, Men always serve
the good wine at first, and after men have well drunk, then they
serve the cheap wine. But you save the best for now.
You know, that's what the Lord does. So in so many ways, in
so many respects, He saves the best for last. He took away Eden. I know we thought about what
a paradise that must have been. He took away Eden. No, didn't
He? The garden. He took it away. But heaven is
infinitely better. He took away, in this sense,
the first man failed. But the second man, how he achieved. You know, I was thinking about
this. We all have a common ancestor, Adam. But you know what? We also
all have another common ancestor, Noah. Remember, God destroyed
everybody else and everybody came through Noah. You're just
as much coming through Noah as Adam. Everybody else was destroyed.
There wasn't any branches. Well, Noah, I mean, Adam stood
in his own obedience. That's his only hope was his
own personal obedience. Lord took that away. Noah's safety
was in the ark, was in the gospel. He takes away the first. that
He may establish the second. He takes away our righteousness,
and He gives us the very righteousness of Christ, the righteousness
of God. He takes away our false peace, the peace that we work
up, and He gives us true peace, the peace of the gospel. He takes
away our earthly family. These earthly ties are not going
to last, but He gives a heavenly family. that's infinitely closer
and more glorious. He takes away these bodies of
corruption that we're living in. They're all going to be done
away with and He gives us glorified bodies. He takes away this earth
and He gives a new heaven and a new earth. He takes away the
old covenant of works. He takes it away. It's abolished.
And there's a covenant of pure, free, sheer grace. That second covenant is established. He taketh away the first that
he may establish the second. Now listen to this. Here's full
atonement. That's what this second covenant
is. Full atonement. Here's pardon
full. For sin that's past, it matters
not how black it's cast. And oh my soul with wonder view,
for sins to come, here's pardon too. Full, complete, free atonement. He taketh away the first that
he may establish the second. Now look at verse 10. I remember
he said, Lo, in verse nine, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh
away the first that he may establish the second by the which will
that will of God that he came to do by the which will. We are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. We are sanctified. Now, this is in The perfect passive,
that means it's perfectly completed, never to be repeated, a sanctification,
a holiness that is perfect, that cannot be added to. You know,
I've heard people talk about positional sanctification and
progressive sanctification. No. This isn't progressive. It's
perfect. It's not positional. It's actual. It's real. We're sanctified by
what the Lord did. Sanctified once for all. Perfect. A completed act that
can't be added to. That can't be improved. That
can't be changed. Once for all. Never to be repeated. And passive. This is in the passive,
in this sense. This is God's work. It's not
something that you and I had our hand in. It's what he did
by himself with no help from us. Sanctified once for all through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Every believer is sanctified. I love saying this. Saint Todd. That's me. That's every believer. You're a saint. You're sanctified.
You're declared by God himself to be holy. We're sanctified
once for all through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ.
Now, this sanctification is the outcome of four things. Now,
understand, this is true of every believer. I'm looking at some
holy men and women. I used to have a hard time saying
that, because when I look at myself, I certainly don't see
anything that's holy. I see sinfulness, I see weakness, I see anything
but holiness in a very real respect. But I believe I'm holy because
the Bible tells me I am. Holy brethren, partakers of the
heavenly calling. I'm holy and I also know this.
I see the effects of that holy nature. Because there was a time
when I didn't believe, and I do now. That's because of that new
nature. There's a time when I didn't
even know what repentance was, but I know I'm repenting now.
That's because of that new nature. There was a time when I truly
had no love for God. I do now. I love him just as
he is. And that's because of that holy
nature. I'm a saint. Saint is what saints are. Saint
Todd, he's holy. Every believer is holy. Every
believer is sanctified. And let me repeat, this is not
something that's progressive. It's accomplished. It's finished.
It's not something that's positional. I don't know if you all ever
heard that term, positional sanctification. What that means is you're not
really sanctified, It's as if you were, but no, not at all.
Every believer is holy before God. Now, there are four things
that bring about this holiness that every believer possesses
that can't be improved, that can't be added to. It's complete. First, this holiness comes from
the will of God, by the which will we are sanctified. Now God's will is so supreme
that when He wills it, it is. He doesn't will that we will
be sanctified. He wills that we are sanctified
and we're sanctified by the which will. By which will? By God's will. That will that
the Lord Jesus Christ came to perform. Lo, I come to do Thy
will, O God. By that will we are sanctified
once for all. Now listen to me. Believe this.
You are holy before God by the will of God. He willed your holiness. If He wills it, it is. Do you
believe that? If He wills you to be holy, you
know what that means? You are holy. And by the witch
will, we are sanctified. Through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ, once for all, you are holy through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ. When Christ died, God said of
all he died for, they are whole. They are holy. And let me repeat, this is not
a progressive holiness that you've become gradually become holier. This is not a positional holiness.
This is holiness. When the Lord said it is finished,
everybody he died for was declared by God himself to be holy. By the witch will, we are sanctified. We are declared by God Himself
to be holy. We are sanctified once for all
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Now that's what
He did. What does it take to be holy? Well, for one thing,
you can't have any sin. And you have to be perfectly
righteous. And that's what the Lord accomplished on the cross.
He took away sin and He gave me perfect righteousness. So
every believer, we're holy. What's it take to be holy? It's
the result of the sanctifying work of the spirit of God. Would
you turn with me to second Thessalonians chapter two. This is a very important
verse of scripture. You know, before I read this,
I believe God by his grace. I believe God. And I believe
I'm holy. Not because I see it, but because
God says I am. We are sanctified once for all
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Once for all,
a completed action. I believe God. I believe what
he says. Now, I believe I'm a sinner too. I believe I'm a sinner,
but I believe that God does not see my sin because there's nothing
there. Christ put it away and I'm holy. This is the heritage
of every believer. Now look here in second Thessalonians
chapter two, verse 13, Paul says, but we're bound to give thanks
always to God for you. Brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. That's talking about election
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. Now, every believer, they're
holy because God willed their holiness. Every believer is holy
because Christ died for them and that makes them holy. Sins
taken care of. Every believer is holy because
they have the sanctifying work of God the Holy Spirit. But notice
how he says this. He says, through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. How can I know that God
has done a sanctifying work of grace in me? One evidence, I
believe the truth. You can't separate the sanctifying
work of the Holy Spirit and the belief of the truth. Remember
what our Lord said in John chapter 17, He said, sanctify them through
thy truth. Thy word is truth. Do you believe the gospel? Just
real simply, do you believe the gospel? Are you relying on Jesus
Christ as your holiness before God? Are you relying on Jesus
Christ as your righteousness before God? Do you really believe
that He is your entrance into heaven? You wouldn't dare come
anyway. Do you believe the gospel? Then you've had the sanctifying
work of God the Holy Spirit done in you. You've been sanctified
by the Spirit and the evidence of it is belief of the truth.
Look up in this, let's not just talk about giving a scent of
the truth. Look in verse 8 of the same chapter, 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. And then shall that wicked be revealed, talking about
the Antichrist, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit
of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all
power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness, in them to perish, because they receive not what? The love of the truth. Not just the truth. but the love
of the truth. You know, I love God's way of
saving, don't you? I love God's way of saving by
Christ. I love God's way of saving by
grace. I've received the love of the truth. Now, these people
who did not receive the love of the truth that they might
be saved, for this cause God shall send them. Did you see
that? God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe
a lie, that they all might be damned, who believe not the truth
but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But here's the difference between
you and them. We are bound to give thanks always
to God for you. There's the difference. God.
We are bound to thank God for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord, because God had from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. So here we see God in sanctification. God the Father willed my sanctification. God the Son redeemed me and made
me sanctified. God the Holy Spirit gives me
the new birth. That's sanctification. Now, what
this does in the life of the believer is what is the evidence
that God has done something for us. And let me try to tell you,
let me try to explain. If God has sanctified me, I now love God. I love him as he's revealed in
his word. And I hate sin. You know, I don't
believe there's any understanding of love without hatred. Love
is meaningless without hatred. What do I mean by that? Let me
give you some examples. I love God's Word and I hate anything
that's contrary to it. I do, I hate it. I love what
God says. And I hate everything that's
contrary to it. David said, I esteem all thy
precepts and all things to be right. And I hate every false
way. We love God's people. You know, when we were beginning
this service, I was just looking over this congregation. I thought,
man, I love these people. What a blessing to be identified
with Him. It's such a blessed thing. We
love God's people. And we hate the old man. I hate
myself. I hate my sinful nature. I hate
it. I do. I despise it. We love God's ways. And we hate the ways of the world. We love God's righteousness.
And we hate self-righteousness. We love grace. And we hate salvation
by works. We love liberty. And we hate
bondage. We love sincerity. And we hate
hypocrisy. We love good works. We hate You
see where there's a love, there's a hate. And God has done something
in you and for you when you love that which is of Him and you
hate that which is contrary to Him. When someone is sanctified,
it's seen in their character, a holy nature. Now, in our text, once again,
Hebrews 10. Verse 10, by the witch will. We are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ. And look at this next
word. Once. Once for all. No degrees. No decline. We are sanctified,
holy before God, through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ, once for all. Something that can never be repeated. Once for all. I've justified. Oh, I love that. I am without
sin. Once for all. I'm sanctified. Once for all, I'm reconciled. Once for all, I'm purified. Once for all, I'm glorified. Once for all. Now, it takes faith
to believe that, doesn't it? It's only believing God's Word. Believing it because God says
it. If God says we're sanctified once for all, we are sanctified
once for all. Let's pray.