Sunday Morning Service (Hebrews 10:1-25)

Hebrews 10:1-25

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“Therefore...” • 2.11.18 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro

- As we enter chapter 10, verses 1-4 provide us with our best introduction material! This immediate passage provides a natural bridge from what we have been studying to our text today.

• Hebrews 10:1-4 : "For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins." : Our author has argued passionately for the superiority of Christ over against the established religion of the Jews known then and now as "Judaism."

- Law keeping proponents would argue that they were given the law by God and that it was in deference to God that they held strongly to it.

- Our author doesn't deny this, but he tells them that the law was merely the shadow that pointed to a reality that cast it. It provided a dim reflection of the good things that were to come!

- It anticipated the approach of something substantive and was never intended to be the end. It pointed to an image of the things that Christians have in Christ!

- The law's sacrifices illustrate this by their needing to be offered perpetually! The Judaistic voice would point to the need for sacrifices and their effectiveness to deal with sin.

- Our author says, "What effectiveness?" There wasn't a single sacrifice that could cause a person to be right before God! The law offered an incomplete work, thus the neverending cycle!

- A person's account received a fresh coat of paint upon the offense of their sin before God, but they remained saddled with guilt and an awareness of their sinful condition.

- If the law was sufficient, once the worshipper was purified, he would focus on being a son, not on being a sinner!

- In fact, because there was another sacrifice on the calendar, the worshipper was freshly reminded of his sins.

- The law's sacrifice was insufficient to to take away sins because the blood of bulls and goats could only cover it! Christ's blood alone had the power to take away sin and that for eternity!

- This leads our author into our text today and the implications of Christ's sacrifice. Verse 5.

Text

• Hebrews 10:5-7 : "Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: 'Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’" : On the surface, one might miss the power of this phrase in verse 5. Because of the futility of the sacrificial system, when He came into the world, He said. Who said? Jesus!

- The Bible is unified in it's presentation of an eternally pre-existent Christ! Jesus did not come into existence. He has always been. He entered our world and did so with this mission.

- You will not find these words in any gospel. This is a quote from Psalm 40:6-8. David, writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit, captured an agreement made in heaven.

- God the Father did not want further animal sacrifices or offerings from His Messiah. He was unsatisfied with the Levitical system, so the Father prepared a body for the Son to offer Him!

- The Levitical system kept God from acting out of His wrath against Israel's sin, but it could never produce a favorable response toward them. He had no pleasure in that!

- Jesus came to fulfill His Father's pleasure! That is why He came! Every redemptive picture contained in the Old Testament was written to describe His work! The whole book is about Him!

- He would be able to secure God's pleasure because He alone would actually do God's will! He would perform all of God's righteousness, to the very point of His own sacrificial death!

- In all of the history of the Universe, the Bible asserts correctly that Jesus Christ is the only one who has ever fulfilled His will. Our author continues in verse 8.

• Hebrews 10:8-10 : "Previously saying, 'Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them' (which are offered according to the law), then He said, 'Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.' He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." : Notice the order. The Messiah, Jesus, began by acknowledging the Father's rejection of the law's offerings. Then, He presented Him with an alternative.

- The Father takes away the first that He may establish the second! "Takes away" is widely translated and can also be rendered "cancels" or "does away" with.

- The RSV has the most aggressive term, noting that in this statement, the Messiah "abolishes" the first, in order that He might cause the second one to stand!

- Throughout Hebrews and in fact, the entire New Testament, God has consistently said that the Old Covenant of sacrifice has been put away.

- God cannot be related to man outside of a covenant agreement. That is why the second agreement exists and supercedes, replaces the first. The two cannot coexist.

- By the will of God, Christians are set apart for Himself by the Son's offering of His body!

- We are cleansed thoroughly, from our souls to our corresponding behavior once and for all! That is to say, anyone who expects to be saved can only be saved through His One sacrifice!

- Every sin that was related to our past, present and future has been accounted for under the prevailing blood of Jesus Christ. The law could't say that. Verse 11.

• Hebrews 10:11-14 : "And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." : Consider what it must have been like to be a Levitical priest. Their life was a grind!

- Every single day would be filled with the need for the blood of lambs, goats or birds. There was never any variation and there was never any expiation!

- Those sacrifices, millions upon millions of them, were able to cover, but never able to take away sins. The Priests and the people knew this.

- In contrast Jesus, after His single sacrifice for sins, sat down! We've mentioned this before, but a Levitical priest never sat down! There wasn't a piece of furniture constructed for that purpose!

- Their work was continual! Christ's was complete! He has completed the work necessary to take away our sins forever! Now, He waits for His enemies to be subdued!

- The author used this word in chapter 9:28, when he wrote of our waiting for the Lord's second coming. The word speaks of a certain expected outcome!

- Jesus knows how this is going to turn out! He will be satisfied against His enemies! They will be brought under his feet! This is a military image.

- In the ancient world, conquering Kings would assemble their troops after their victory. In a show of complete dominance, the King would bring his counterpart to the stage..

- That defeated King would bow before the King and he would rest his foot upon the back of his counterpart's neck!

- The act of His sacrifice was one of military conquest! Think of the ramifications. Every person that has ever lived fits into two distinct categories.

- You are either a child of God by the blood of Jesus Christ or You are God's enemy!

- For those that have accepted His sacrifice, applied the blood of Christ by faith, you had once been His enemy, but you have have bowed your knees voluntarily and been made a child.

- For those that have refused His sacrifice, blasphemed His Work, you are currently His enemy and if you do not rectify that, one day you will be dominated under the ruling foot of Christ!

- Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! This is an inevitability! Verse 15.

• Hebrews 10:15-18 : "But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, 'This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,' then He adds, 'Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.' Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin." : The Holy Spirit also witnesses. "Witnesses" is the same word that brings us the English word "martyr."

- Generally we used this word to speak of one who has died, but the word itself refers to one that bears testimony. The Holy Spirit adds His agreement with what the Son has already said.

- In fact, the author writes this in the present tense, meaning that the Holy Spirit is testifying now to this. How is the Holy Spirit speaking to them? Through the Word!

- The Holy Spirit is applying scripture to their immediate context, in this case, that scripture which is found in Jeremiah 31:33ff. Our author referenced these verses earlier in his argument.

- The New Covenant that God was making with His people would be an internal covenant, whereby God would inscribe His law upon the hearts and minds of His people.

- In doing this, God promised through Jeremiah that He would not allow His people's sin to stand between them. He makes the choice not to remember our sins!

- God chooses instead to look upon the merits of Christ! Our wretchedness was put upon Him at the cross. His righteousness is imputed to us as we believe!

- Christ's righteousness is greater than our sin. That's what God the Father chooses to look at when He thinks of us. The Jews believed what Jeremiah wrote but weren't connecting the issue.

- If there was a new covenant that would issue in a pardon for sins, why would there still need to be an offering?

- Why would an offering to God for sin be necessary, unless one discounted the work of Christ? That other offering would be a denial of Christ's work!

- Aside from that negative, consider the positive: God has accepted Christ's sacrifice on behalf of His people! What does that mean for us?

- Like most of the other epistles in scripture, our author will go from what we believe to how that should affect our behavior. Verse 19.

• Hebrews 10:19-23 : "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. " : Because Christ's sacrifice has been accepted by God as a "once for all" sacrifice.

- Because there has been a pardon for sin for those who are under the administration of His High Priestly office. Because He is the Forerunner inviting us to enter with Him, we have boldness!

- "Boldness" when applied to speech refers to being blunt, without constraint to speak what is on our minds. When it refers to access, it means free and fearless confidence!

- It is the visual difference between a man coming home to his house versus a thief entering in! We can come straight in to the very Holy of Holies because of the blood of Jesus!

- Our author calls this "a new and living way!" The way has been freshly engineered and is continually alive for access to the people of God. He set this way apart for us to travel upon!

- What is the way? Jesus says it Himself and the author appeals to it here. Jesus Himself is the way in! He did this through the veil, His flesh, referring to His satisfying atoning death.

- That is a marvelous statement! The veil that once stood to cover the Holy of Holies, that ripped at His death from top to bottom, was the flesh of Christ torn that the inside might be seen!

- The barrier is down and now our High Priest sits in the house of God and He beckons us to draw near!

- Forget the Levitical priesthood, with it's built in distance and it's redundant, antiquated and outdated systerm that separates God and Man!

- The Melchizedekian Priesthood invites all of God's people to draw near! Again, the word is written in the present tense. We are to continually be in the habit of drawing near to the Lord!

- We need not do so with a doubtful heart, but one that is completely convinced, knowing that we have been cleared in conscience as well as in body with water that is filtered through His blood!

- Consequently, our author looks at his audience who are vascillating between the Judaism and Christianity. In light of what has been said, instead of letting go, let's keep our grip upon our faith!

- Let's hold to the same thing that we've been holding onto without wavering. That word comes from another word which speaks about reclining.

- It seems that he is saying, "Let's hold on tight and let's hold on without relaxing!" Pay attention. Be alert. Why? Because Christ, the One who has promised us eternal salvation, is faithful!

- We are not faithful. We are not worthy. We have no righteousness of our own. Our only hope is that Christ holds onto His Word! That isn't an issue!

- Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever! He is as faithful to us today as He was to His Father on the day that He submitted to crucifixion!

- Our response toward God should be boldness, convinced of our security in Christ. Our response toward the faith should be commitment to it's tenets, firmly holding to it's promise.

- What should our response toward one another? How should this doctrine impact our lives together? Verse 24.

• Hebrews 10:24-26 : "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." : The body of Christ is called by the Spirit to consider, to focus upon one another. If we heard it today, he might say "Continually be considerate of one another.

- A few of the other translations add some color to the thought. For example, the NET says, "Let us take thought." The CSB employs the phrase, "Let us watch out for."

- Taken together, there is a sense in which the body is called to be responsible to the other members, to live with consideration, to serve in a thoughtful way and to help guard over them.

- Think about this in light of what we hear of or think about today. We decide whether we want to come to church based upon what we think of ourselves.

- The predominant thought among most evangelicals can be summarized in such statements as, "Do I want to go?" "What will I get out of it?" "Who will meet my needs?"

- When was the last time someone said, "I need to be in church because of the needs of the others around me?" I'll reserve further comment in a moment. The question is why?

- We are to be thoughtful and watchful toward each other, hoping to stir up up love and good works. What does it mean to "stir up?" Consider the other translations.

- The NLT uses the word "motivate." The NIV says "spur on." If you have the CSB, the word is "provoke" and if you have the NASB, you'll read "stimulate."

- The actual word gives us our word "paroxysm." It means to incite, which we might generally consider a bad thing but not when you are inciting acts of love and good works!

- Practice agape. Love those that aren't like you, looking out for their benefit and betterment in the same way that the Lord loved you. Where can we find such people? In the church!

- You might be able to learn just as much, if not more on your own on a Sunday. It's even possible that your own personal worship might be better.

- But how can you stir up love if you aren't around people to love? God is not calling you to love yourself! That is more of a problem for us than a good thing!

- Let me say this as clear as possible: If you are not in the habit of making fellowship a priority in your life, you cannot say that you are being obedient to Him, because you are not!

- We are to incite each other to love and to good works! We are to encourage one another in the ministries that we are partaking in, letting each other know what prayers would be helpful.

- Incidently, this is often why people don't want to make church a priority. They don't want to be accountable to the body of Christ in the act of doing good works that reveal their faith!

- That isn't to be our testimony. Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Don't neglect the opportunity to meet together! Do you need to hear that?

- Even in the early church, this was the habit that some had become accustomed to! Our author says it plainly: Don't be that guy! Don't fall into that way of thinking!

- We need to be together to encourage each other, so much more so as we see the Day approaching!

- If that was true during the first century, how much more certain is it now! Do you not see the Day of Christ's return as more imminent than it was then? Whether you do or not, it is!

- Are you not convinced that our High Priest is coming again, not for the sake of sin, but for salvation? Be about His business. Be with those that He loves!

Conclusion
- For those who have believed in Christ, we can rest in the knowledge that our sins have been taken away and no longer stand before God. We are His blood bought children.

- We can run into His presence, assured by Jesus Himself, that we belong and are accepted in the Beloved One!

- Because that is a settled reality, we can turn our attention to our faith. We can nurture and enjoy our faith, holding onto it as a precious commodity.

- And we can look around at those with like mind and lend our hands and hearts to what the Lord has laid out for their lives.

- May this be our cause and may this be our practice until He comes!