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[0:00] Welcome to Built on God's Word, the preaching and teaching ministry of Highland Park Baptist Church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.! Pastor Mike Scrivani preaches on Hebrews 10, verses 1-18.

[0:14] If you're there, would you stand with me as we honor the reading of God's Word together again from Hebrews 10, verses 1-18. Verse 1-18.

[0:54] There is a reminder of sins every year, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for Me.

[1:08] In burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. That I said, Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of Me in the scroll of the book. When He said above, You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings, in burnt offerings and sin offerings, these are offered according to the law.

[1:26] Then He added, Behold, I have come to do your will. He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

[1:39] And every priest stands daily at His service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting for that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet.

[1:59] For by a single offering, He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us, for after saying, This is the covenant that I will make with them, after those days, declares the Lord, I will put My laws on their minds and write them on their hearts and on their minds.

[2:19] Then He added, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. May God add a blessing to the reading of His Word.

[2:31] Would you please be seated? When you first learned to ride a bike or taught your children, you likely used training wheels attached to the rear wheel.

[2:50] That extra help lets new riders focus on steering and pedaling, building confidence without fear of falling by providing extra stability and balance.

[3:09] Once you learn those basics, it's time then to remove the training wheels. Sometimes mom or dad will run behind the bike with their hand on the seat, acting as a spotter in case their little one loses control, giving them added confidence that they are there and they are supported.

[3:35] I remember the day that my dad removed my training wheels from my bike. He was ready to run behind me, but I was more prepared than he realized.

[3:45] And I shot down our driveway. I zipped up the street, wind rushing past my face as I pedaled harder and picked up speed, whipped around the Kotal Sack and coasted back home, feeling transformed.

[4:02] Older, freer, more alive than I'd ever felt before. But imagine if I had never moved beyond riding a bike with training wheels.

[4:18] Picture yourself driving through town in your car one day and spotting me, your pastor, pedaling down Washington Boulevard, still using training wheels, and my dad, now in his 70s, running behind me with his hand on my seat.

[4:38] What would go through your mind? You'd probably feel embarrassed for me and probably feel embarrassed for our church. Seeing a grown man led by his elderly father still relying on training wheels to ride a bike.

[4:55] You might be annoyed. You would be if I was riding in the street and you were in the car right behind me. You might be perplexed. Shouldn't he be mature enough mentally and physically by now to ride a bike by himself without training wheels?

[5:16] Training wheels serve a purpose, but there comes a time when they are no longer needed, and thus they are unnecessary. Hebrews chapter 10 continues this section about the superiority of Jesus' sacrifice as our superior high priest.

[5:33] Beginning in chapter 9, verses 1 through 10, the writer of Hebrews notes the old covenant's inferiority to the new covenant inaugurated by Jesus Christ because it did not truly bring one into the presence of God.

[5:47] In 9, 11 through 14, the writer states that Jesus, on the other hand, entered God's presence as our high priest with his own blood, securing an eternal redemption for those who trust in him for salvation.

[6:01] Then in chapter 9, verses 15 through 22, we are told that as beneficiaries of the new covenant, followers of Christ enjoy an eternal inheritance through Christ's sacrifice, through his better blood, which fully atoned for our sins and grants us full access to the Father.

[6:21] Verses 23 through 28, we see that Jesus' sacrifice was perfect, and thus it does not need to be repeated. His sacrifice on the cross put away our sins forever.

[6:38] And thus we who are in Christ look forward to his second coming, knowing he is not coming to deal with our sins, but to complete his work of salvation in us, glorification.

[6:50] The sin nature being done away with completely. We will enjoy a perfect peace with our perfect creator forever in perfect bodies. In our passage this morning, the writer of Hebrews continues to contrast the superior sacrifice of Jesus, which inaugurated the new covenant, fully and finally achieving what animal sacrifices under the old covenant never could.

[7:17] And so the main idea for this morning's sermon, Jesus' superior sacrifice forever achieves what the repeated sacrifices of the old covenant never could, forgiveness of sins.

[7:32] Jesus' superior sacrifice forever achieves what the repeated sacrifices of the old covenant never could, forgiveness of sins. Jesus' superior sacrifice forever forever. So what does any of this have to do with training wheels?

[7:44] Look back with me at the end of Hebrews chapter 5 and the warning there that the writer of Hebrews gave, which precipitated his teaching about the superiority of Jesus' priesthood, sacrifice, and blood, which activated the new covenant.

[8:04] There in Hebrews 5, 11 through 14, he tells them, About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing.

[8:17] For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food.

[8:28] For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

[8:43] Jesus has come in fulfillment of Old Testament Scripture. He's fulfilled the law. He's the fulfillment of what the old covenant and its sacrifices pointed to.

[8:59] He is the Son of God who willingly died on the cross as a sacrifice, shedding his blood, permanently atoning for our sins, putting away our sins from us forever, granting us permanent access to God the Father.

[9:20] As our superior high priest, he's offered himself as a superior sacrifice, activating a superior covenant, having forever achieved what the repeated sacrifices under the old covenant never could.

[9:36] Total, complete, permanent forgiveness for our sins. The writer of Hebrews here is imploring his readers again to, in a way, take the training wheels off to mature, to grow up, to feast on solid food, to embrace the substance, not the shadow, to see that in Christ they have all they need to be made righteous, to be made perfect through his perfect sacrifice.

[10:13] The old covenant is done. The new covenant has come. And with it, freedom from the rituals, ceremonies, and practices prescribed under the old covenant.

[10:27] Why does this matter for us today? Highland Park Baptist Church, we exist to develop disciples of Jesus Christ who delight in him and demonstrate his goodness as we declare his gospel to our neighbors and to the nations.

[10:44] My goal this morning is for this sermon to develop you as a disciple of Jesus Christ. That you will grow in spiritual maturity and desire to be more like Jesus because you delight in him through whom and only through whom your sins have been forever forgiven.

[11:11] That in delighting in him, you will desire to obey him more. Demonstrating his goodness to you, to others.

[11:24] Declaring his gospel, the good news that Jesus atoned for sins and gives us new life in him. And that you would do that, declaring that good news to your neighbors and to the nations.

[11:39] Our passage this morning proclaims four reasons why Jesus' sacrifice is superior and the new covenant is better than the old covenant.

[11:49] If you don't know Jesus, you're in the right place. Today you are going to hear the good news that will completely and totally transform your life if you'll put your faith in him.

[12:07] So let's look at those four reasons. Reason number one, animal sacrifices failed to take away sins fully. Animal sacrifices failed to take away sins fully.

[12:19] In verse 1, the writer of Hebrews says, again, For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year make perfect those who draw near.

[12:36] The old covenant enshrined in the law was only a shadow of the good things to come, which have now come in Jesus Christ.

[12:50] They prefigured, they foreshadowed Jesus' superior sacrifice on the cross. And as verses 2 and 3 go on to say, They were designed, these old covenant rituals and sacrifices, they were designed to fail.

[13:10] Let's look at verses 2 and 3 again. Otherwise, would they have not ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins.

[13:23] But in these sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year. The old covenant sacrificial system prescribed by the law succeeded by failing.

[13:38] They succeeded by reminding sinners of their sinfulness. An animal sacrifice stood in the place of the sinner and its blood was shed, its life was substituted to atone, to appease, to stave off God's wrath towards the sin of His people.

[14:00] Those sacrifices were a reminder of the costly price of sin and how seriously God views sin.

[14:12] They also succeeded through their failure in making it clear that a better sacrifice was needed because repeated sacrifices showed that they could not fully atone for the sins of God's people.

[14:29] As verse 4 says, For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

[14:39] When I was a junior in high school, I played baseball in the summer for a guy who would take us to different tournaments to play in front of college coaches.

[14:52] He, our coach, played Division I baseball at North Carolina State. He later ended up being a scout for the Kansas City Royals. He knew his stuff, and he demanded from us excellence.

[15:07] He sought perfection. And so our practices were hard. I remember one Saturday afternoon, it was the end of practice, we were tired, we were ready to go home.

[15:22] And our coach told us all to go line up at home plate to run what he called a single possible double. A hit to the outfield that if we hustled out of the batter's box, it was no doubt a single, but if we hustled it, we could stretch it into a double.

[15:42] And so we'd run. We'd all go through, and he'd say, do it again. This went on for what seemed like forever.

[15:52] We'd run, and he would say, do it again. Do it again. We'd run, and he'd say, do it again. You're going to do this again and again until you all do it right.

[16:10] He eventually walked off the field into the dugout, and we thought he was so upset that he was just going to go home, that he had just quit on us. No, he got a folding chair, and he brought it out to the infield.

[16:22] He put it down between first and second base, and he sat in it as he watched us run again and again, and he told us again and again, you're not doing it right.

[16:37] He watched us run repeatedly, never doing it perfectly. Finally, he said, do you guys want to know what you're doing wrong? And we all said, no, we're really enjoying this.

[16:50] This is good conditioning for us. Let's just keep going until we figure out what you want us to do the right way. We said, yes, and he showed us, and then we were done.

[17:05] He was the kind of coach that no matter what you did, he'd find something to critique. No matter how well you did, he'd find something better that you could do, and you know what?

[17:17] He was right. He demanded perfection, but none of us achieved it. His perfect standard, the endless repetitions of drills made us better, but not perfect.

[17:31] He didn't draft any of us to play for the Kansas City Royals. His standard was too high for us to achieve. God's people living under the Old Covenant should have realized that the repetition of animal sacrifices day after day, week after week, year after year after year after year for centuries weren't cutting it.

[17:58] It could not permanently take away their sin and thus could not cleanse their consciousness of sin. The sacrifices weren't enough.

[18:08] Thomas Schreiner, New Testament scholar, said if the sacrifices were effective, the worshipers, having been cleansed, would no longer be conscious of their sins.

[18:20] They would be assured that full and final forgiveness had been accomplished and would be free from the defiling guilt of sin. Instead of cleansing and purifying from sin, Old Testament sacrifices remind people of their sins.

[18:33] Perhaps the readers were attracted to Levitical sacrifices because they concretely and clearly offered forgiveness of sins, but it was just the opposite. They summoned sins to mind showing that genuine perfection has not occurred under the Levitical system.

[18:51] Animal sacrifices weren't capable of fully taking away sin. Again, year after year, week after week, day after day, animal sacrifices reminded God's people that they had sinned, that they would sin again, and that these sacrifices could not fully atone for them.

[19:18] They failed. The fact that the animal sacrifices had to be repeated again and again reminded them that they failed to completely, totally, and fully atone for their sins.

[19:31] they could not relieve their consciences of the guilt of sinning against the Holy God, and that is why they succeeded. The failure of Old Covenant sacrifices pointed to the need for a better high priest who would make a better sacrifice and who would inaugurate a better covenant that would fully and forever put the sins of God's people away and cleanse their guilty conscience of sin.

[20:03] So now we see the second reason. Jesus' sacrifice fulfilled the Father's will. Jesus' sacrifice fulfilled the Father's will. God instituted the Old Covenant, but it was never intended by Him to be permanent.

[20:18] The priests, the tabernacle, later the temple, its furnishings, and the sacrifices performed in it or offered in it were all foreshadowing and pointing to the coming of a better priest who would make a better sacrifice.

[20:37] Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, made that sacrifice. Look back with me at how the writer of Hebrews, inspired by the Holy Spirit, opens this letter, which really is a sermon in Hebrews 1, 1 through 3.

[20:54] See how he describes Jesus. Long ago, at many times, and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

[21:07] But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power.

[21:23] After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Jesus is the Son of God who in His incarnation added a human nature to His divine nature.

[21:39] He came to make purification for sins in fulfillment of the Father's promise to send a Messiah, a promised one, who would break the curse of sin by redeeming us and saving us from the eternal consequences of our sin.

[22:01] The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 4, 4-5, But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.

[22:18] In the Bible, we read that it has always been God's plan to send His eternal Son who took on human flesh so that He could be the sacrifice through whom and only through whom our sins can be forever forgiven.

[22:39] The writer of Hebrews makes this connection for his readers by referencing Psalm 40. He says, Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for Me.

[22:59] In burnt offerings and sin offerings you take no pleasure. Then I said, Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of Me in the scroll of the book. Psalm 40 is a psalm of David in which he asks God for deliverance from his enemies.

[23:17] The writer of Hebrews quotes verses 6 and 7. In those verses, David says that his sacrifices and his animal sacrifices and offerings are not given just because God commands them, but He offers them with a motivation in his heart to give himself to God, to give his entire life to God.

[23:45] His desire, his motivation in obeying God's command to offer this sacrifice is to do God's will with his life, to delight in fulfilling God's plan for him.

[23:57] The writer of Hebrews quotes a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. The original Hebrew does not say a body you have prepared for me, but ears you have dug out for me.

[24:09] The ears stand as a part in for the whole. What's most important to note here is that this psalm, which was not viewed as a messianic prophecy, still spoke about Jesus.

[24:22] Jesus did not come to make sacrifices, but to be the sacrifice to put an end to all sacrifices.

[24:35] He did this in obedience to the Father's will. And so listen, Jesus is the interpretive key to our Bibles. His coming, his dying, his rising again, his coming back is what all of the Bible is about.

[24:57] The Bible is about Jesus. He is its central figure. And even the Old Testament passages that don't appear to contain messianic prophecies still speak about Jesus and they still point to him.

[25:15] The Holy Spirit of God inspired David to record these words of the Son of God who in his incarnation submitted himself to the will of God the Father.

[25:26] Not to offer animal sacrifices, but to be the sacrifice, to offer himself, his own body on the cross to fully atone for our sins, forever achieving what the repeated sacrifice of the Old Covenant never could, forgiveness of our sins.

[25:50] In verses 8-9, the writer of Hebrews gives his own commentary, his own exposition of Psalm 40. He says, when he said above, you have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings, these are offered according to the law, then he added, behold, I have come to do your will.

[26:08] He does away with the first, the Old Covenant, in order to establish the second, the New Covenant. God established the Old Covenant and instituted the sacrificial system in the tabernacle and later in the temple.

[26:23] However, what he truly desired from his people then and now was not just sacrifices and offerings themselves, but what he was truly after was the heart of the worshiper, the one who made the sacrifice, who gave the offering, because in their heart they mourned over their sin and they longed to be forgiven by God and they trusted that God would ultimately provide a final solution to their sin problem.

[27:06] God was always after the motivation. He was always desiring the motivation of the heart of the worshiper, not just the sacrifice because it was offered.

[27:18] A couple examples of this. Samuel told King Saul in 1 Samuel 15, 22, Has the Lord has great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

[27:33] Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to listen than the fat of rams. Psalm 51, 16 through 17. We were there earlier this summer. For you will not delight in sacrifice or I would give it.

[27:45] You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. O God, you will not despise.

[27:57] Isaiah 1, 11 through 13 says, What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices, says the Lord? I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts.

[28:07] I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats. when you come to appear before me who has required of you this trampling on my courts. Bring no more vain offerings.

[28:19] Incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations. I cannot endure iniquity in solemn assembly. Jesus came in his incarnation as a willing sacrifice, obedient to accomplish his father's will to atone for our sins and he did it with joy.

[28:46] Hebrews 12, 2. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

[29:08] He offered himself that we may draw near to God in full assurance of faith, having sprinkled our consciences clean. Hebrews 10, 22 says.

[29:20] And as verse 10 says, animal sacrifices under the old covenant were not willing participants, but Jesus was.

[29:44] Jesus willingly and voluntarily gave himself, offered himself as a sacrifice so that we who believe in him are sanctified by his perfect sacrifice.

[30:02] The word sanctified here is written in the perfect tense. A completed past action with continuing results.

[30:15] In Christ, we are not uncleaned or defiled before God anymore. We are clothed in Christ's righteousness. In salvation, he has sealed us with the Holy Spirit.

[30:29] We are in Christ, in right standing with God. We have peace with him. We are declared by him. We are counted by him to be righteous.

[30:40] Again, Schreiner is helpful here. He says, since believers stand before God as holy and clean by virtue of Christ's sacrificial offering, they don't need to offer any other sacrifice to obtain forgiveness of sins.

[30:56] Jesus' joyful resolve to obey the Father's will to save us and to sanctify us should inspire us.

[31:11] It should create within us a drive, a motivation within us to obey him too, to seek his will.

[31:25] It is good to obey our God who loved us enough to send his only son to save us. John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

[31:45] And Jesus told his disciples in John 13, 35, that it's this love done in obedience to the Father's will which testifies to the world that we are in Christ.

[32:00] John 13, 35, Jesus says, by this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. And then later in John 14, 15, he told them, if you love me, you will keep my commandments.

[32:19] This is why we have our mission statement, so that we stay focused on our Lord's will for us. We exist to develop disciples of Jesus who delight in him and demonstrate his goodness as we declare his gospel to our neighbors and to the nations.

[32:36] We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. In Christ, we're not the same anymore. We have a purpose.

[32:47] Like Jesus, we must be about our heavenly father's will. We aren't just people who go to the same church. We are part of the body of Christ.

[32:59] We are a family. We have responsibilities to fulfill towards each other in obedience to our Lord, loving one another, discipling one another, serving one another, striving together not against each other, stirring each other up to love and good works, encouraging each other, delighting in Jesus together and doing this until we die and we're with Jesus or until Jesus comes back and he takes us out of this place.

[33:39] There's a difference between doing and being. Our mission statement keeps us from just doing stuff that churches do to being the kind of church the Lord commands us to be if we'll follow through with it.

[33:58] Before moving on, I want to look again at the last statement in verse 10. Once for all. Friend, there is one sacrifice that brings peace with God.

[34:13] There is one sacrifice that atones for sins completely. There is only one mediator between a holy God and sinful people and he's Jesus Christ.

[34:28] You don't need to go on some kind of spiritual journey to discover yourself for something else. You'll be wasting your time. You don't need to do a bunch of good deeds to make yourself feel like, you know, I'm clean enough now for God to forgive me, for God to save me.

[34:47] It's not how it works. You realize you're a sinner and in that realization you realize you need a Savior and you turn to Jesus in repentance of your sin and you will be included in the all in once and for all.

[35:12] You may think that you are the world's worst sinner, but praise God that Jesus is an eternal Savior who died for sinners and eternally forgives them of their sins.

[35:33] Let's move on to the third reason. Jesus' sacrifice is finished. His sacrifice is finished. In every priest, verse 11, stands daily at his service offering repeatedly the same sacrifice which can never take away sins.

[35:49] But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting for that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. As I've shared before, priests in the tabernacle and later the temple had no place to sit.

[36:05] They always had work to do. There was always a sacrifice to make. But Jesus' sacrificial work is finished. He's seated now in victory and he's waiting for the last act of the story of redemption.

[36:19] When he returns, it will not be to make another sacrifice. That part is finished. As verse 14 says, for by a single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

[36:34] Now here we see the word sanctified again. The Bible says that positionally in Christ we are sanctified. But we are also progressively being sanctified.

[36:48] Pastor Tyler spoke about this last Sunday night and he mentioned that sanctification is both passive and active. Passively, we trust God to sanctify us.

[37:02] Presenting our bodies to God, Romans 6, 13 and 12, 1 and yielding to the Holy Spirit. It is God's will, 1 Thessalonians 4, 3 says, it is God's will that you should be sanctified.

[37:13] Actively, we are responsible to choose to do what is right, to obey the Father's will. Each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 1 Thessalonians 4, 4.

[37:28] This involves putting to death the misdeeds of the body, Romans 8, 13. Striving for holiness, Romans 12, 14. Fleeing immorality, 1 Corinthians 6, 18. Cleansing ourselves from every defilement, 2 Corinthians 7, 1.

[37:42] And making every effort to supplement our faith with Christ-like character, 2 Peter 1, 5-11. Jesus' offering was perfect and it will result in the perfection of all those whom he saved and are being sanctified.

[38:01] Romans 8, 29-30. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

[38:16] And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified and those whom he justified he also glorified. Those who are foreknown make it all the way to the end.

[38:30] Jesus finishes what he starts. And if he's saved you, brother, sister, in a way, it's already finished. There is nothing left for you to do.

[38:45] There is nothing you can add or contribute. tribute. Jesus did it all. As far as your sin goes, as far as your salvation goes, Jesus has done it all.

[38:56] If you're in Christ, he's not going to leave you. He's not going to forsake you. But if you are truly in Christ, there should be fruit. There should be evidence of that.

[39:09] And so I ask you, is that true of you? Is there fruit? Is there fruit? Are you trusting in good works that you've done?

[39:21] Are you trusting in external actions that you've made in the church? Maybe you prayed a prayer. Maybe you've been baptized. Maybe you've done a lot of good deeds compared to other people.

[39:32] But has Jesus changed your life? Has he changed your life? Are you holding on to old things and traditions?

[39:47] Maybe fears of what following Christ might cost you in your relationships? Friend, only Jesus can save you.

[40:01] Only he can sprinkle a guilty conscience and make it clean. And if you aren't a Christian, you might be thinking, okay, well, I can't live like a Christian.

[40:14] I can't live that way. And you know what? You're right. None of us could live like a Christian if we weren't saved by Jesus Christ first.

[40:31] Knowing you can't do it, is a good place for the Christian life to begin. It's fertile ground for the gospel to take root in.

[40:43] Knowing that you can't stop sinning. Knowing that you can't make things better. Knowing that you can't clean yourself up and admitting that you need help.

[40:56] You can't. But Jesus can. He will give you a new heart with new affections, a new life, and complete forgiveness of your sins.

[41:13] Now, the fourth reason. Jesus' sacrifice brings full forgiveness of sins. Jesus' sacrifice brings full forgiveness of sins.

[41:25] Verses 15 through 18 again, and the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us. For after saying, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord, I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds.

[41:42] Then he adds, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. Where there is forgiveness of deeds, there is no longer any offering for sin. I want to read verse 17 and 18 again.

[41:54] Then he adds, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

[42:08] No more bulls, no more goats, no more lambs, no more works, no more temples, no more tabernacles, no more priests, no more penance. In Christ, your sins, your lawless deeds are no longer held against you.

[42:25] Do you understand that? That truth is so good. I'll tell you, it's so good that sometimes for me, it can be hard to believe.

[42:38] Really? Even as Christians, you've forgiven me all of it.

[42:51] Wow. Spurgeon said, I'm a poor sinner still, and I have to look to Christ every day as I did at the first.

[43:03] Every day, we must look to Christ and we must preach the gospel to ourselves. Yes. Yes, Jesus in his love has come.

[43:17] Yes, Jesus has willingly died on the cross for me. Yes, Jesus has atoned for all of my sins, past, present, and future.

[43:29] Yes, in Christ I'm forever forgiven. Yes, in Christ I'm declared righteous before the Father. Yes, in Christ my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Yes, when I die I am going to be with Jesus.

[43:41] Yes. Yes. Preach the gospel to yourself every day. As Jonathan Edwards famously said, you contribute nothing to your salvation but the sin that makes it necessary.

[43:59] And in preaching the gospel to yourself every day you'll know I serve the Lord, I obey his will, not for him to save me but because I know that he's already saved me.

[44:11] Thankfully we have a final once for all sacrifice in Christ in him and only in him are we fully eternally and forever forgiven.

[44:25] Friend, if you don't know Jesus he has brought you here today you have heard his gospel and he's calling you to respond to it in faith to turn to him to believe in him and to be fully forever forgiven of your sins.

[44:40] as believers or as those who claim to be followers of Christ I think this is the adjustment for us and it's two questions that I want you to ask.

[44:55] I'm going to read a scripture after this it'll be a time of prayer and I invite you to ask these questions of yourself. Are you being sanctified? Since the day you claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ is there fruit?

[45:12] We sin we will wrestle with the sin nature until we get to glorification we understand that but is there a progression of you becoming more and more like Jesus?

[45:23] Is there the fruit of the spirit evidenced in your life? If people saw you if people were asked are they a Christian? There's so much evidence that you would be convicted.

[45:34] Yes they followed Jesus. And then second do you draw near to God in full assurance of faith in Jesus' perfect sacrifice? Maybe for whatever reason you are feeling like you have sinned too much for Jesus to forgive you or for you to be received into the presence of God the Father.

[45:55] Well you've just heard the sermon and you've just heard the word Jesus has done it all. And you can come in confidence to the Father you can come to him and ask him to forgive you of your sins and he will forgive you.

[46:12] Draw near to God in full assurance of faith in Jesus' perfect sacrifice. When you read his word know that he wants to spend time with you. He wants to teach you.

[46:25] He's not going to stiff arm you or reject you. He wants you to draw near to him because he loves you and in Christ he has saved you.

[46:37] The application is pointing to where we'll be next week. I want to close by reading Hebrews 10 19 through 25 and God's word will have the final word.

[46:50] And this is what we need to do. This truth this awesome truth that we are fully forgiven in Christ. This is what it should look like in our lives and our church. Therefore brothers since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh and since we have a great high priest over the house of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

[47:24] Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some but encouraging one another all the more as you see the day drawing near.

[47:44] Ask yourselves these questions. Let's pray. Go to the Lord yourself in prayer. Lord we thank you that you have made the sacrifice willingly made the sacrifice to atone completely permanently eternally for our sins that Lord in you we are forever forgiven.

[48:24] God I pray for those today who do not know you they've heard your gospel they know who you are they know what you've done and I pray Lord that in your grace you would turn their hearts to you and that you would save them and that they would know the hope and the peace and the purpose that comes in life through following you Lord Jesus God for those of us whom you've been gracious to save Lord may we be reminded by your word today and we pray that it would stick with us that it would cling to our minds this truth that it would be etched into our minds that there is nothing left for us to do that you have done it all and that Lord in you we are clothed in your righteousness we are declared and counted righteous in your eyes and as far as our salvation goes it is a completed action there is nothing left for us to do but Lord you've called us to a great purpose you've called us

[49:29]  Lord to share this good news you've called us to go and to make disciples and Lord these truths that you've given us Lord I pray that we would be bold in our proclamation and that when people see us as your people they would see how much we delight in you how thankful we are for you that Lord if you would bring unbelievers into this place that they would see that these people are different they're not just people who go to church together these are people who are different from any other group of people I've ever seen in my life and that they would know that the difference is you and the difference that you've made in our lives and are making in our lives so God we pray that we would be a church that follows your will we pray that we would be a church of people who are living sacrifices who are eager to do whatever you command us to do that your name would be glorified and that more we pray would be a part of the all and once and for all hearing the gospel and being saved by it we love you Lord thank you for what you and only you could do for us to you be all the glory and the honor forever and ever in Jesus name we pray amen to learn more visit us in person or see the website at