That's a good song, thank you.
Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10. The first word that we encounter
in Hebrews 10 verse 1 is the law. The word law. Sometimes in the scriptures,
The word law means all the word of God as it's written in the
law and the prophets. The word by the prophets. Sometimes
the word law in the word of God refers to the moral law. The
moral law of God. I shall have no other God before
me. I shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Honor thy father and thy mother.
The moral law of God. But here the word law is talking
about the law of ceremony and sacrifice, the law of the priesthood
and the tabernacle, the law of circumcision, the law which God
outlined to Moses on Mount Sinai regarding the worship of the
Lord, the priesthood and the sacrifices that was to be in
effect throughout the whole Old Testament period. And God said
to Moses, see that you make and do everything according to my
word and specifications. And that's what Moses did. And
two things are said in this opening verse about this ceremonial law. Two things, very decisive, are
stated about this law of ceremony and circumcision sacrifices. Number one, it's a shadow. By
the law, having a shadow of good things to come. This ceremonial
law, with all of its natural material and carnal washings
and sacrifices, things that are real, but yet a shadow, a type,
A picture, not the real thing, not the true life, not the true
way to God, not the true worship of God. It's a picture. That's
all it is. A law, the whole ceremony law
is a shadow of good things to come, a picture of good things
to come. And not the very image of the
good things to come. Christ is the image of God. He's
the exact image of God. He's the truth. I'm the way,
the true way. I'm the truth. I'm the true life. But this ceremonial law is a
shadow. That's all it ever was and all
it was meant to be. It was a picture and not the
very image of those things. And the second word that identifies
this ceremonial law, it's a shadow, but the second word that tells
us about this ceremonial law is the word never. It can never,
it can never. See that in verse 1? It can never
save, it can never perfect, it can never put away sin. Never,
never, ever. It can never, with those sacrifices,
no matter how many or how sincere or how accurate, which they offer
year by year continually, never make the comers down to perfect.
Never. Now when we talk about Christ's
sacrifice and his priesthood, over here in verse 14, The word
used is forever, forever. These sacrifices could never
put away sin, never make the comers perfect, comers that are
not perfect. Verse 14, for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. So this
is the subject of this chapter, the law, never. Christ forever. All right, verse 2, here are
two other things that are brought to our attention. Verse 1 said
there lies a shadow, that's all it ever is, never was given to
say, never. All right, secondly, verse 2,
for then would they not have ceased to be offered? These sacrifices,
blood sacrifices, atonement, offerings, if they could put
away sin, what's the first thing to be surmised? They'd cease
to be offered. Why would they cease to be offered?
Well, the second thing is this, because if these sacrifices,
if the Passover lamb could have put away sin, or the atonement
which Adam offered, the second result would be this, the worshipers
want purge. would have no more conscience
of sin. If they could put away sin, if these Old Testament sacrifices
could put away sin, they'd have offered one and that would have
been it. Sin would be put away and the people wouldn't bring
any more sacrifices because they wouldn't have any more conscience
of sin. And that's what I'm going to
talk about tonight over in verse 18. Turn over there. Verse 18,
listen. Where remission of sins is, there's
no more offering. In that cliff, where forgiveness
is and remission and sin is a purge, you don't keep offering sacrifices. There's no more offering. That's
the reason the mass is foolish. There's no more offering for
sin. Christ is not sacrificed again. It's foolish. It's over. There's no more offering.
And secondly, we'd have no more conscience of sin. Our guilt
would be gone. And because Christ puts away
sin, number one, there's no more offering. Secondly, and we have
therefore brethren, boldness to enter the holiest by the blood
of Jesus. You see, as long as that tabernacle
stood and those sacrifices were offered, that veil remained.
And the priest would go under the veil once a year, the high
priest, with a blood sacrifice. And the censer with the incense,
which is the prayers of Christ. Alone, once you have people out
here, God's presence in here, the mercy in here, the Shekinah
glory in here. People out here, they don't come
to God, the priest comes to God for them, they don't ever come
to God. The priest prays for them, sacrifices for them, talks
for them, and takes what God has to say out to them. But they
never come in. Now if that sacrifice could put
away sin, like Christ did, that day would be rent in due. And
that's what happened. Rent in due. When he died, no
more offering, no more priesthood, no more sacrifices, no more incense,
no more coming into the... God's out here now, dwelling
in his people. And we're all priests, and we
all offer sacrifices of praise. And we come right into the presence
of God because we don't have any more conscience of sin. We're
not here this morning full of guilt. We're here full of praise.
Of course we're sinners. Are you proud of everything you
did this week? Are you proud of everything you did today?
No. But you're not bowed down with
shame and guilt. Why are you smiling? because
Christ died because God receives you and loves you and he says
come boldly into the presence of God with full assurance having
your heart sprinkled with the blood of Christ and your conscience
washed with pure water so that's what verse 2 says he says if
these sacrifices could put away sin they'd stop offering them
and the people would stop moaning and groaning and they'd come
to God That's what Christ did for us. All right, verse 3. But in those sacrifices there's
a remembrance again made of sin every year. And we're not talking
about the people remembering their sins. Of course they do. We still do. David said, my sins
are ever before me. But this verse is not talking
about them remembering their sins. Of course they will, always
will. David remembered his sins till
he died. He said, I tell you, God made
a covenant with me and that's my only hope. That's right. This
is talking about God remembering. That's what this is talking about.
It's every time that a sacrifice was offered and built before
the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, it is saying God still
holds us accountable for our sins. He remembers them and they're
against us. That's what that says. The fact that Almighty God required
that the Passover lamb be slain every year the atonement every
year, the scapegoat offered every year, the daily sacrifices every
day, declares one thing, the law is not satisfied. That's
what it declares. Justice is not satisfied. Every
time that high priest went into the Holy of Holies and screamed
loud and clear, justice is not satisfied yet. The law is not
honored yet. But when Christ died, look at
verse 17. God declared their sins and iniquities,
I will remember no more. Oh, that's the key. I don't mind
remembering them. I want to. I want to confess
my sins and weep over my sins and repent of my sins and try
to do better. But I don't want God to remember.
That's what the thief on the cross said, Lord, remember me.
Don't remember my sins. And that's the only way. He sacrifices,
verse 3 says, it screams loud and clear, sins are remembered
by God. By God. But when Christ died,
he said, I remember no more. You do, but he doesn't. I'm not
here to explain that, I'm here to proclaim it. I know it so.
He doesn't remember our sins anymore. It's not possible for
the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. You see, sin
is a transgression of the law. And for the sin not to be remembered,
the law has to pronounce it removed. See, it's a transgression of
the law. And the only way that sins cannot be remembered is
to be removed. And that's what Christ did. He
removed our sins so they're not remembered. He took them away.
He bore our sins in his body on the tree. Like a scapegoat
of old, he bore them away. So that's why the blood of bulls
and goats can't do it, but Christ can. Sin must be punished by
justice. And for sin not to be remembered,
justice has got to be satisfied. And when Christ died and gave
a full payment, justice was satisfied. And sins are not remembered.
That's the reason the bulls and goats cannot do it. Bulls and
goats can't honor the law. Bulls and goats can't satisfy
justice, but he can. Look over here at chapter 9,
verse 11. But Christ being come, and a
high priest of good things to come, by greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood,
he entered in once into the holy place and obtained eternal redemption
for us. See, sin is a transgression of
the law. And Christ removed the sins and
the law is satisfied. And your sins are remembered
no more. Sin is a transgression and an offense against justice.
And justice has to be satisfied. The justice of God has to be
satisfied. And Christ did that and removed
our sins. So they're not remembered anymore.
Now, you know, let's look at verse 5. Wherefore, when he cometh
into the world, he saith, Sacrifice an offering thy will is not,
but a body hast thou prepared me? And burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, and
the volume of the book is written of me to do thy will. You know,
I've tried to say over and over again that everything that Christ
said and did is written in the Old Testament. Everything that
is in the New Testament in regard to Christ's redemption is prophesied
in the Old Testament. These exact words, Paul said,
are the words of our Lord. Well, let's read them in Psalm
40. Way back here, when David reigned, when David wrote the
Psalms. Here's the Psalm of David. Our Lord's called the Son of
David. Now, remember that, what I just read, sacrifice and offering
thy will is not a body. I come to do thy will. Here's
David writing back in the Old Testament. Of whom does he speak? Well, who speaks here? David?
No, sir. The son of David. Christ speaks
here. Listen. Psalm 40, verse 5. Many, O Lord my God, are thy
wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which
are to us. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, there more than can be numbered. Sacrifice and offering
thy does not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened, my
ears hast thou digged, the bond-servant. Burn offerings and sacrifice
and sin-offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I
come, and the volume of the book is written of me. I delight to
do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. I preach
righteousness in the great congregation. I have not refrained my lips,
O Lord, thou knowest." Who is this? This is Christ speaking. This is our Lord Jesus. You see,
God calls those things which be not yet as though they were. Back here in Psalm 40, the work
of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ, the sin offering of Christ is
declared by David in the very words of Christ. and the things
which are not yet, God declares them to be. In his mind and purpose
they are. All right, verse 8. Above, when
he said, when David wrote, Sacrifice and offering, and burnt offerings,
and offering for sin, thou wouldst not, neither had pleasure therein
which are offered by the law. You see these sacrifices that
Aaron and all the other priests offered, they were but shadows
and pictures of Christ. Pictures and types of our Lord's
redemptive work. And in the picture, justice was
never satisfied, the law was never honored, and God was never
pleased. A picture of a criminal behind
bars doesn't satisfy the law. not to let it apprehend him,
put him behind bars. That's when the law is satisfied.
When the criminal is apprehended, not a picture of him behind bars
or a picture of him being executed, but when the law actually apprehends
him, puts him in prison and puts him to death, the law is satisfied. Justice is satisfied. And that's
what he's saying here, that pictures don't satisfy the law of pleased
God. But when Christ is apprehended,
our scapegoat, our substitute, our sacrifice, when justice,
when the law apprehended him and justice slew him, the law
was satisfied on our behalf. That's right, that's what that's
saying. In these pictures, I hope you
see what I'm saying there. Pictures won't do it. You've
got to apprehend the guilty party. He's got to be tried. He's got
to be sentenced. He's got to pay his debt. And
when he's dead, the law has no more claim. He that's dead is
free from sin. He that is dead is free from
the law. He that is dead, justice has
no claim. He's paid his debt. And Christ was apprehended. He was numbered with the transgressors.
He was brought to trial. None declared his generation.
It pleased God to bruise him, and British stripes were healed.
And he was numbered with the transgressors and by the sin
of many, and the law has no claim on us whom he represented. Justice
has no quarrel with us. A man who's dead and paid his
debt He doesn't run from the law, because the law has no claim.
All right, verse 9. When our Lord Jesus came in the
flesh, now listen carefully to this, when our Lord came in the
flesh, he said, Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O
God. All right, I come to do thy will. Now this is written in the Old
Testament, I come to do thy will. This is written of Paul about
Christ, I come to do thy will. What is the will of God? What is the will of God? Let
me show you two scriptures that clearly define this will. Romans 9. The will of God. I come to do thy will, O God. Romans chapter 9. beginning with
verse 9. Here is the will of God. This
is the word of promise, right now. At this time will I come. I will come. The Savior shall
have a son. And not only this, but when Rebekah
also had conceived by one, even our father Isaac, the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or That the purpose
of God, the will of God, according to election, might stand, not
of works, but of him that calleth, him that willeth. It is said
unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written,
Jacob hath a lord, Esau hath a hated. Now what shall we say
then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Is God on fire? God forbid. He said to Moses,
I will. have mercy on whom I will have
mercy. That's the will of God. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. That's my will. Lead on. And
I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then,
it's not of man that will it, or of man that run it. It's of
God that shows mercy. What is the will of God? To show
mercy. That's God's will. To show mercy. To show mercy to whom he will
show mercy. All right, John 6. Christ said, I come to do thy
will, and that's his will, to show mercy. It goes all the way
back to Moses. Law of first mention. Now John
6. John 6. Let's begin reading with
verse 36. John 6.36, this is our Lord Jesus
speaking. I said to you, you've seen me
and believe not. But some people are going to
believe. You don't, he said. That's what he says to these
religious Pharisees. You've seen me, you don't believe.
But all that my Father giveth me shall come to me. And him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. I came down from
heaven. Not to do my own will, but the
will of him that sent me." Now go back to my text and listen.
I come to do thy will, O God. And he repeats it right here
in verse 38. I came down from heaven, not
to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. This is
my Father's will which hath sent me. What is the will of God? That of all which he hath given
me. I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful, all which he hath given me. I'll lose nothing,
not a one of them, but I'll raise him up again at the last day.
This is the will of him that sent me. I come to do thy will,
that everyone that seeth the Son and believeth on him may
have everlasting life. I'll raise him up again at the
last day. That's the will of God. All the way through the words,
starting back there, Psalm 40, I come to do thy will. And God
says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And
the only way you see that God can have mercy is for Christ
to satisfy the law, honor justice. When Christ came, he enabled
God to do his will. He enabled God to be just and
justify. Christ Jesus, by his sacrifice,
enabled God to show mercy. He can't show mercy without sacrificing. Mercy and truth have got to meet
together. Righteousness and peace have
got to operate at the same time. They can't operate separately.
And God says, I will show mercy. No, you won't. Unless the law
is satisfied and justice is honored. I will be gracious. No, you won't. Not unless your law is honored
and sacrificed and justice is satisfied. So Christ said, I'll
go. I'll go and do your will. I'll redeem every one of them
you gave me. I'll save every one of them. Yet I've come to
seek and to save the lost. I've come to find my sheep. And
I'll find them. And God will be gracious and
merciful to them. Now he taketh away the first
that he may establish the second. The first what? That law? That's
just a shadow. That ceremony and sacrifice and
all these priesthood and all these things, it can never put
away sin. He takes them away. And establishes a second. Who's
the second? He's Christ. The second Adam.
The first Adam's of this earth and the second Adam's the Lord
from heaven. In the first Adam we died and the second Adam we're
saved and redeemed. So all this he takes away. Takes away the first Adam. Takes
away the first covenant. And the everlasting covenant
reigns. He takes away the first Adam. The second Adam is the
Lord from heaven. He takes away the first ceremony. He takes
away first priesthood. He takes away the first sacrifices. He takes away our old nature. He's going to put it in the ground.
The old nature is going to put him in the ground. The body returned
to the ground from whence it came and the soul to God who
gave it. Where did the soul come from? Our old bodies, incorrupt,
will be raised anew by old heaven, old earth, all these things will
be removed. It takes away the first. All
right, verse 10. What is the will of God? I'll
be merciful through Christ. Verse 10. By which will? We are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. Not of him that willeth nor of
him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. How does
God show mercy? Through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all, by God's will. Turn to John 1 and listen to
this. Everybody is trying to make so
much of the will of man, the will of man, the free will of
man. Man's will's not free, it's in
bondage to sin. It's in bondage to sin. Christ
said, you will not come to me that you might have life. How
could I gather that you will not? You would not. But God gives
us the will, he makes us living. Look at verse 12 of John 1. As many as received Christ, and
then gave ye the power, They power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name, which were born, not
of blood, not of natural ancestry or genealogy, not of the flesh,
not of the will of man, they are born of God, they are born
of God's will. By the which will we sanctify,
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. coming to a close. Now look at
verse 11. Here's a comparison between that old priesthood and
the new. Every priest, lots of them, standing,
never sit down because their work's never done. Offering,
often times, saying sacrifices over and over again. Why? Because
they never, never take away sin. But Christ, this man, the God-man,
not just the man, but the God-man, After he had offered one sacrifice,
his own blood, for sins, whose sins, our sins, he bore our transgressions
in his body on the tree. Forever, not many times, one
time, one covenant, one priest, one sacrifice forever, sat down
because he finished his work. Where? As high as you can be
seated. As high as you can be seated.
The right hand of God. And having finished his work,
he entered his rest. Now, this is why verse 14 starts
with far. Why did he sit down at the right
hand of God? Why did he expect his enemies
to be vanquished? Why are his people saved and
secure? Why do we find rest in him? Here it is, verse 14. by one
offering, he hath perfected forever, as perfect as he is, them that
are sanctified. And therefore the Holy Ghost,
now here's another quotation from Jeremiah, the Holy Ghost
also is a witness to us. For he said before, well, let's
see what he said this before. Turn to Jeremiah 31. Let's see
where he said this before. He said before, this is the covenant. Let's see where he said it before.
Jeremiah 31, 33. Beautiful. He said it before. Now listen.
Let's start with verse 31. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, the days of the Messiah. I'll make a new covenant with
the house of Israel, with the house of Judah. Not according
to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day I took them
by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my
covenant they break, although I was a husband to them, saith
the Lord. But this shall be the covenant I make with the house
of Israel." That's not the Jews, that's all believers. After those
days, saith the Lord, I'll put my law, not in an ark, not on
tables of stone, I'll put my law in their hearts. I'll put
my law in their inward parts and write my law in their hearts.
I'll be their God, they'll be my people. They shall teach no
more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord. They won't need those prophets to speak to them
all the time because they're all going to know me. Every believer
will know me from the least to the greatest of them. I will
forgive their iniquities. I'll remember their sins no more.
I'll write my text and I'll close. Hebrews 10, verse 16. This is
the covenant that I'll make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. I'll put my law in their hearts and in their minds
will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. Blessed are they whose guilt
is gone, whose sins are washed in Jesus' blood, whose hope is
fixed on Christ alone, whom he hath reconciled to God. Though
traveling through this veil of tears, we many trials and temptations
meet, but God's word this witness bears, we stand in Christ Jesus
complete. This pearl of price no works
can claim, it's a gift. both rich and sweet, this faithful
promise bears a name. We stand in Christ Jesus complete. One offering for sin. Tonight,
no more offering. All right, let's sing a hymn.