The perfection of Christ's sacrifice is the central theme, contrasting it with the Old Testament's imperfect sacrifices. The sermon explains that the law's sacrifices could never make worshippers perfect, only remind them of sins annually. In contrast, Christ, by doing God's will, offered his body once for all, achieving eternal sanctification and remission of sins. This single, perfect offering means there is no longer any need for further sacrifices for sin, establishing a new covenant written on believers' hearts.
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Read the portion of study tonight, verses one through verse eighteen. I'd like to read the portion all the way through, beginning in chapter ten at verse one and through verse eighteen, where the Spirit of God has written through the beloved apostle, 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 worshippers once first should have had no more conscience of sins.
But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of both the live goats should take away sin. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, and this is a conversation undoubtedly by the Son of God to the Father, 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 is written of me, to do thy will, O God.
Above when he said, Sacrifice an offering and burn offering, an offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hath pleasure therein, which are offered by the law. Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God, he taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once, for all, and every priest stand up daily, ministering and offering, oftentimes, the same sacrifices which can never take away sin.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin, forever sat down on the right hand of God. From henceforth expecting, till his enemies be made his footstool, for by one offering he has protected forever, then that is sanctified, whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For as of it is said before, this is the covenant that I will make with then 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. May God bless the reading and the hearing of this section of his precious words. May I humbly say, that as we come to this section and the closing portion, where we end in verse eighteen, it is the completion of the doctrinal teaching in the book of Hebrews. The beloved apostle by the Holy Spirit has covered much doctrine, and henceforth following this section, it is chiefly filled with exhortation after the responsibility of those to whom the apostle writes.
But when we first began to study on the first night of our beginning in this book of Hebrews, chapter one, we made the statement, let me repeat it with no apology for the repetition. If you and I will keep this thought before us and in our minds, we'll have a better, clearer understanding of the book of Hebrews, the purpose for which it was written, and to whom it was written particularly. It was written to Hebrews, not to Gentiles, but to Hebrews, that those Hebrews may no longer be Hebrews, but become Christian.
Can I repeat it? The whole substance of the letter and the purpose was particularly for the Hebrew people. And in the days when it was written, because many of them had made a profession of coming to Christ, but going back, there were some of them, to the sacrifices of the law and to the Old Testament procedures, which was contrary to the preaching of the gospel. And Paul, if he wrote the epistle, as many believe he did, likes to correct. so that they may know they should forsake their position under the law forever and come by faith and grace to the Lord Jesus, to himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin.
Now a closing section tonight in this chapter ten touches upon the perfection of the sacrifice of Christ. Let me just pause for a moment and penetrate my heart and my mind about what I just stated. The portion reflects before us and brings before us the perfection of the sacrificial offering of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross. That is the most amazing statement of truth. that can never be revealed to the human heart.
The perfection, or if you want to put it in other words, the complete finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrifice upon the cross. Note the first four verses with me quickly. The first four verses tells us the imperfection of the Old Testament sacrifices. I read them to you once again. For the law, under the Mosaic law, having a shadow of good things to come, poison to the coming of Christ, but not the very image of those things, can never emphasize the word, but by the Spirit has been emphasized.
The law could never with those sacrifices which they offer year by year continually make the comets thereunto perfect. Can I repeat it? Please, don't hesitate to believe it. The law with its sacrifices can never make those who came with their sacrifices continually though they came. Perfect. But now read online. For then, if they could, would they not have ceased to be offered? They would have no need of another offering, because that the worshippers once urged should have had no more conscience of sin.
But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. Now let me pause for a moment. I just mention it. We have no time to turn to the scriptures of the Old Testament. But very profusely, if you read the book of Leviticus in the opening chapters, and particularly, if I may emphasize, chapter four and five, where the sin offering is revealed, and the trespass offering that follows is also revealed. The sin offering and the trespass offering were applicable to every Israelite.
And if you read the context of those chapters carefully, for every sin that an Israelite committed to be atoned for, he had to bring a sacrifice. Not for just one sin, but for every sin. And then in addition, once a year, the sins of the whole nation were atoned for by the high priests on the great day of atonement. But read verse three with me as we go on. And here's the conclusion. For in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sin every year.
May I ask you a question my fellow believers. Would you have to be concerned about being judge for your sins every year, and getting them settled every... Look, when you and I were saved, it was once and for all. But not for the Old Testament sake. Please, and let me repeat again, God made provision when they said they should bring a sacrifice in acknowledgement and seek His forgiveness. You read Leviticus four and five, and me I'll give you another thought.
there was a sacrifice to be made for sins that they were ignorant of, called the sins of ignorance, for the kings, for the priests, as well as for the people. But now note the conclusion in verse four, is for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats, and get the emphasis, should take away sins. My beloved, let me please emphasize it for our own blessings that in this age of grace, the moment the sinner believes upon the Lord Jesus, God says the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us.
From what? All sin. Not the tax, but the present as well. the future as well. Now let me also be reminded with you. Those sins of the Israelites were not taken away in that manner when they came with their earthly sacrifices. But emphasize what John the Baptist says in John one twenty nine. As he looked at the Son of God coming toward him, behold the Lamb of God which Take us away. Remove them forever.
Take us away the sins of the world. And here you have it here. The bulls, the sacrifices of the bulls and of the ghosts, they could never take away sins. Now when we look at verse five and go through verse nine, here we have the revelation. that only by doing the will of God, His beloved Son Himself alone took away our sin. Let me read verse five through verse nine. Note it carefully. And please may I repeat, here you have solemnly a divine conversation of the Son of God to the Father.
You may find it repeated in the fortieth Psalm. We have no time to turn to it. Our time is limited. But the words are taken from the fortieth Psalm, prophetically written by the Holy Spirit through David, a conversation, a divine conversation. And note that carefully, wherefore when He cometh into the world, aren't you glad of those words in first Timothy one fifteen this is a faithful saying and worthy of all accepting it that Christ Jesus the Son of God came into the world and the joy of knowing it came into the world to save us from our sin and here you have the conversation when he's coming into the world, he says, please, I do not minimize it, I emphasize it.
This is a genuine conversation. This is a genuine confession of submission, obedience of the Son of God to do the will of his Father. Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hath thou prepared me In burnt offerings and sacrifices were saved, thou hast had no pleasure, no satisfaction, no eternal satisfaction. God had to bring their sins every year to them in remembrance, if not more than that. And then, then it's repeated again, then said I, lo, I come.
And then the emphasis, in the volume of the book, tis written of me. even through the tithes and the shadows of the Old Testament, were indications of the coming of the Messiah, the Son of God himself into this world. And in the volume of the Word of God, it was written that he would come. Now let me just pause for one moment. And this is just a brief expression of the truth of it, regarding his coming into the world. God's earthly people through the Old Testament could know how he would come, how he would be born.
They could also know from the Old Testament Scripture where he would be born. At the same time, they could know from the Old Testament Scripture when he would be born. And I'm not going into the details, take too long. But they could also know how he would be born. There was no excuse For the Pharisees of the day when the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem, for them not knowing. It was the time. And from this scripture they were told the place, and they knew that. And also they were told how.
And from the prophetic scripture in Daniel they could know the time. But here you find that the Lord Jesus says, Lo, I come to do thy will. Oh, God. Now you note the application of it. And so we're above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burn offerings and offering for sin. I don't want them anymore. Neither hath thou pleasure therein, which are offered by the law. When he said, Lo, I come to do thy will. Oh, God, he taketh away the... Take that in. Look in verse four.
Those are sacrifices could not take away sin. And now you read in verse nine, or verse ten, or verse nine rather, God takes away the first, the law, that he may establish the second, the sacrifice of his only begotten Son, doing his will. And we shall see more the greatness of doing that will. I'm sure that every one of you are very acquainted with the fact that when the Lord Jesus was here upon the earth, we're very well acquainted with the fact. He made the statement himself, I do the will of him that sent me.
Let me go even further, not only during his life, but on the threshold of his death. in the agony of Gethsemane's garden, as he faced that bitter cup to drink that bitter cup of sin and its judgment. As he prayed in earnest as sweating great drops of blood and praying, Out of Father, if it be possible, take away this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will for thine be done. My beloved, we are indebted to the beloved Son of God, telling it, Father, lo, I come to do thy will.
Which will was not only bringing him to Bethlehem, but taking him all the way to the death of the cross to make the one redeeming sacrifice. So now let's continue on as we look at verse ten. Now we go on and see the fruit of that. The sacrifice of Christ, we see the fruit of Him doing that will. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. And may I point out before going further, everything pertaining to what the Old Testament foretold regarding the coming of the Lord Jesus.
and regarding his obedience to do the Father's will. And you know what the Father's will involved? Obedience to the law and to the prophet and to the law of Moses. And do you remember the extreme perfection of going to do that will even when he was on the cross? There was one scripture just before he died that had never been done, and he cried, I thirst. As you find the prophetic words of that scene in the book of Psalms, I thirst and be brought in vinegar drink to drink, mingled with, and admitted to drink, and put it upon a sponge for him to drink.
It was the one scripture that had never been fulfilled. till that moment, and he knew it had to be fulfilled. He fulfilled every promise of the Scripture. But greater still, what was the finality of God's will? Philippians chapter two, you may remember, five through eight. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. How that though being in the form of God, He thought in not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself a no reputation, and took upon him the form of a slave, and was made in the likeness of men, and even being fashioned in likenesses of men, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
The will of God brought him from the presence of the Father above, and gave him that body. Please note, let me go back to verse five at the end of it. A body hath thou prepared me. Can I pause for just a moment and worship? Let me ask the question. How did God prepare that body of the Lord Jesus? Not the way yours was, nor the way mine, nor any other man. As the angel Gabriel came to the Virgin Mary, the power of the highest shall overshadow me, and the power of the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee.
And that which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. His birth and the preparation of his body, in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost, No wonder her cousin Elizabeth said, Blessed are thou above all women. As she greeted Mary later, as Mary came to her home. And the preparation of a party. Let me pause for just a moment. Let me give a reference briefly, quickly. The Book of Jonah. Remember that great fish that Jonah was swallowed by?
God prepared it for him. In the same book of Jonah, the last chapter, he prepared a little worm, a gourd, rather, to protect Jonah. And then he prepared a little worm to heat up the gourd and bring it to nothing. No. What divine revelation of the detail? My beloved, we must never forget. The blessed incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ was by the Holy Spirit of God. He was born not of flesh, nor of blood, nor of the will of man, but by the Holy Ghost prepared in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
May we hold to that precious truth, though we do not and will not worship and should not worship Mary. Blessed was she in favor above all women, to be the chosen mother of the Messiah. And it was part of the will of God. Let me ask the question. The amazing grace, the amazing humility, God, equal with the Father, eternal Son of God, willing to become a man, to do the Father's will. Now we go down our chapter, let me go and see, as we were reading in verse ten, in order to become the offering.
By the which will which he did, we are set apart through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. A body as thou prepared for me, and that body meant he must be the sacrifice, the Lamb of God, and prepared. My beloved, think of it. I have to worship. I think of the Lord's Supper. One of the deep notes of worship that reach my soul at the Lord's Supper is when I take the bread as well as the cup.
But the bread, and hear my Lord say, this is my body. Never a body like that. And this is my blood. There's never a blood like that. But by the doing of the will of God to that degree, we are set apart through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Now you know verse eleven. And please know what the apostle is referring to. What was true at the time he wrote? Judaism wasn't finished. The temple was still standing when Paul wrote this epistle.
If he wrote it, as many believe he did. And the priesthood was still operating. And the apostle revealed it. Every priest, priest, stands it daily. Look, go back to your Old Testament again, and the book of Leviticus. God not only demanded certain specific offerings, but He demanded in Israel a burn offering in the morning and a burn offering in the evening, every day, beside all the other offerings that may be brought to the altar. And you and I could never know how many offerings were brought to the altar.
But when the apostle was writing the letter, the priest was still there, operating. standing daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sin but this man after he had offered one sacrifices forever sat down on the right hand of God please look carefully in verse eleven the priest stands all the time when he ministers in the temple of old and in the tabernacle of old.
There was no place for the priest. His work was never finished. His sacrifices were never perfect. And there was no place for him to sit down and say, now I've done it. It's finished. Well, what happened when the Lord finished his work? He sat down and you can take the word forever on the right hand of God. From henceforth expect him till his enemies be made his forsoom. Do you remember the words of Psalm one hundred and ten? Where David wrote prophetically, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy forsoom.
And God will do that someday. But here the Lord Jesus is told. We are told he sat down. And where he now is. at the right hand of God as our great high priest, from henceforth expecting till his enemy has been made his footstool. But may I please note something very precious in verse fourteen. And that is the perfecting of the perfection of your redemption and mine. For by one offering he hath perfected forever. then that are sanctified or set apart.
Please don't mistake the meaning of sanctification. You'll find in the original Hebrew that the words sanctify often is used, the word holy, meaning set apart. You read in the Old Testament of vessels being sanctified, the vessels of the tabernacle and the vessels of the temple. and of people being sanctified or set apart. And you have the Lord Jesus in his prayer of John seventeen referring to the fact of his dear children as he speaks of the Father. And that's even the Father to sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is true, and speaks of them being set apart.
So the meaning of sanctify is being positionally set apart. Now let me give you three thoughts quickly. on the doctrine of sanctification. There is a positional sanctification. And there is an experimental sanctification. And someday there will be a permanent sanctification. And let me repeat it. When you and I are saying, we are positionally once and forever, as you have here, by that one offering set upon forever to God and for God. Can I repeat it again?
It's the greatest joy. When He saved me that night, it saved me forever. Praise the Lord. If I wasn't saved, I get saved right now. Please, that position of sanctification. And then there's practical sanctification. And that means, in our practical lives, We should be sanctified and set apart to live for the Lord and for His glory in holy conduct and behavior. But thank God that day is coming when it's going to be permanent sanctification. Spirit and soul and body presented faultless, blameless before the throne of God.
And oh the joy of knowing the meaning When we were first saved, we were set apart forever. We think of the Lord Jesus saying, John ten, I give unto my sheep what? Eternal life. They shall never perish. Neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. And my father who gave unto me, neither shall any man pluck them out of my father's hand. the fine father who gave them unto me i and my father are one the perfect let me repeat again it this is where it's coming to the climax of the doctrinal teaching of this epistle that through the death the body and the resurrection and the ascension glorification and the new priesthood of our great high priests in heaven we've been perfectly set upon Now note verse fifteen down to the rest of the chapter, through verse seventeen particularly, a reference to the Spirit of God's testimony, quoting from Jeremiah chapter thirty-one, which you may read at your convenience in detail, whereof
the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us, for after that he has said before. And this is what the promise is in Jeremiah thirty-one. God promised it even for Israel. Someday He will set them apart forever. And that promise was given there. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days. Set the Lord after their great departure and time of judgment and sorrow and grief, unto when they are restored after those days. I'll put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them. And then here's the result.
Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more? That's a good ending to this section, isn't it? Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. May I say very briefly and quickly, just quoting three scriptures, when God forgives sins, as you may read in chapter one hundred and three of the book of Psalms, he says, As far as the east is removed from the west, so far have we removed our transgressions from us.
And when God forgives the sins of the nation of Israel in a coming day, and when He forgave you and me, our sins, He took them out of reach. As far as the east is removed from the west. And if you know your poetry, something about your poetry in school, the poet wrote, the east and the west, the twain, the two of them never meet. If you want to find where the east and the west, you keep going around in the south, around the globe of the earth. But that's not so in the north and south. They've got a meeting place. He had the equator. He put them out of reach. And there's a word in Micah, chapter seven, verse nineteen. God tells of the coming day when he forgives Israel, and will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
He puts them out of reach. I remember a dear old lady, dear old Christian lady I read about when she read it in a geography book, how deep the sea was, and some places they never knew how deep it was. She said, praise the Lord, go put my sins down in the depths of the sea. Nobody would be able to get them up. But this is even better. He puts them not only out of reach, out of sight, but out of his mind. Listen, when God forgives, he forgets. Take it in. My fellow believer, let me tell you something.
You and I don't have any business telling him how bad we were before we were saved. Hmm. Talking to God and telling him what he says, I've forgotten. That's what it means. Of course, if you sin as a believer, you better confess it right away to keep in fellowship. But if, let me just say this, leaving one dear soul, and I think about it many, many years ago, to the Lord Jesus. And having been guilty of many things, they were terrible.
One time, I remember she came to me, weeping. And she raised the question, why can I forgive my sins? I said, enjoy the truth. God has forgotten them. Believe it. Don't bring them up. So then repeat it. Don't tell God how bad you used to be. Tell him and thank and praise and worship him that he saved you and saved me. And our sins took them away. Look.
He takes them away. Let me ask you something. Why should you and I bring them back? That's not taking in religious words. And then you've got the conclusion in verse eighteen. Look, if that be the case, you can't find another offering for sin. Now where remission of thieves is, there's no more offering for sin. I dare anyone in all the world to show there's some more another offering for sin. that have one offering on the cross.
Where is that? No more offering. Oh, the joy of knowing. That's the really, that's the climax of the daughter-in-law's section of the book of Hebrews. Trying to tell the Hebrews, look, don't go back to those sacrifices. There is no other sacrifice. Look, I want to tell you something. God made sure that it happened. And ever since the AD-seventy, when the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed, Israel has never had a sacrifice. They may resume it in the future. They won't last long, though.
It won't work. But there remaineth no more offering for sin. My faith has found a resting place, not in devise nor creed. I trust the ever-living one. His wounds for me shall feed. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me. May I give a thought before I close again? Repeat it. I need him myself. Please, when we come to worship at the Lord's Supper, oh, let's do nothing but praise him for what he's done for us. Don't bring up the same question.
It settles. It's settled. You don't settle it at the north side. You remember the Lord at the Lord's side because he settled it for you. That's the purpose of it. There's no more offering. And we come to cherish who he is and what he did. Aren't you glad he did the will of God? May God bind his Holy Spirit. Through your heart and my heart, your conscience and mine, your life and mine, that we may say to him, Have thine own way, Lord. Have thine own way, thou art the Father, I am the clay. Mow me and make me after thy will, while in thy presence yielded and still.
Shall we pray? O beloved Father, blessed Father, What a joy to know thy dearly beloved Son, the Son of thy love, the dearest possession of thy great eternal heart, was willing to leave the glory of heaven and stoop down to the darkness of this world. To do thy will, by the which will, and the doing of it, he saved us. And perfected forever those whom he saved.
Oh, blessed God, help us to take it in. Lord, it ought to help us jump and shout with joy and delight, the great work of redemption. And what a triumph of victory when he closed his life, crying, it is finished. and bound his sacred head and died. By the which will we have been set apart forever. Lord Jesus, there's no more sacrifice. The sacrifice is all. Praise the Lord.
And blessed Lord Jesus. No wonder you told your disciples to go into all the world and preach it to every creature. And if Paul prayed through this man, he preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and all that believe shall be justified from all things by which they could never be justified by the law of Moses. Lord Jesus, We thank thee, both you and Gentiles, today. We are saved by faith in thy precious blood. And we thank thee as we read.
Never again will there be a sacrifice for sin. No, Lord. There may be some among all their sacrifices in the millennial kingdom, but not to put away sin. Oh, Lord, that one sacrifice, once and for all, Praise the Lord. We commend ourselves to thee, and ask thy blessing, Lord, praying that we, thy people, and thy dear saints everywhere. And oh again, Lord, how we pray as we did in the prayer meeting, that dear neighbor of our brother and sisters, with her family and others to whom witness may be given, and the young people in the back, may truly find out the one sacrifice that Jesus made.
alone takes away sin. We ask it as we separate. And Lord Jesus, oh, may we say, thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me thy great salvation, so rich and so free. We thank you, Lord, in thy precious, worthy name. Amen. Thank you for listening.