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There's a theme in the book of Hebrews, and the theme is that Jesus is better.
Jesus is better. I can hear these now, so that's good.
If anybody's wondering, these are temporary. They're not going to be that big normally.
Jesus is better, and just because it's been a while since we've been in the book of Hebrews,
so let me just kind of recap and remind you. In Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 1,
you don't have to turn that. I'll just read this for you.
We learn that Jesus is better than the prophets. You remember the Bible says,
God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time passed by the prophets.
And then these last days spoken unto us by his son.
And then in Hebrews 1.4, we learn that Jesus is better than the angels.
The Bible says there in verse 4 of Hebrews 1, being made so much better than the angels.
We saw in Hebrews 3.3 that Jesus is better than Moses,
for this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, the Bible says.
And then in Hebrews 4.3, we saw that Jesus is better than the Sabbath,
for we which have believed do enter into rest.
And of course we learn that Jesus is the better rest or the greater rest.
Then in Hebrews 4.14, we learn that Jesus is better than the high priest.
The Bible says seeing then that we have a great high priest which has passed into the heavens Jesus the son of God.
In Hebrews 7.4, we saw that Jesus is better than Abraham.
Now consider how great this man was unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
Then in Hebrews 7.9, we saw that Jesus is better than the Levitical priest, Levi, also who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham.
And then Hebrews 8.6, Jesus is better than the old covenant.
He is the mediator, the Bible says, of a better covenant.
And then Hebrews 9 and 11, last time we were in Hebrews, we learned that Jesus is better than the tabernacle,
a greater and more perfect tabernacle.
It still sounds rangy to me. If you could help me with that, I would appreciate it.
So we've been learning about the fact that Jesus is better, of course the theme of the book of Hebrews.
And tonight we're going to continue with that idea that Jesus is better.
And what we're going to see tonight is that Jesus is better than the Old Testament sacrifices.
And we're going to look at Hebrews chapter 10 tonight.
We're not going to do the entire chapter. It's a pretty long chapter.
But we're going to go through verses 1 through 18 if you're taking notes.
And of course I always encourage you to take notes on the back of your course of the week.
There's a place for you to write down some notes.
We're going to look at Hebrews 10 verses 1 through 18.
And what we're going to do is we're going to look at this under two different headings tonight.
So I'll just kind of give you that up front.
It's going to be very much of a Bible study tonight, so just be ready for that.
But what we're going to do is we're going to look at first, we're going to divide it the way that the writer of Hebrews divides it.
And we're going to look first at the sacrifice of the Old Testament, the sacrifice of the Old Testament.
And then we're going to see the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we'll begin there in verse number 1.
How does it sound to you now? How does it sound? Can you hear me okay?
Is anybody even awake, paying attention?
How does it sound? Is it fine? Are you sure?
Okay. It's not to me, but that's alright.
Hebrews 10 and verse 1.
The Bible says,
Having a shadow of good things to come.
And I want you to notice there in verse number 1 that the writer of Hebrews is going to give us two things that are connected to the law,
or that he wants to explain regarding the law.
And if you remember, we're going to look at this under two headings.
And we're going to begin with the sacrifices of the Old Testament.
The sacrifice of the Old Testament.
And I'd like to share with you just three things that we see from this passage regarding the sacrifice from the Old Testament.
And of course, if you remember, the book of Hebrews, the purpose of the book of Hebrews is, it was written to first century Jews.
Of course, all scripture is given by inspiration of God.
And we can learn from all scripture.
But this book was written to first century Jews to help them transition from the Old Testament into the New Testament.
From the Old Covenant into the New Covenant.
And to help them not only understand how to transition into the New Covenant,
but how the New Covenant in the Old Covenant, the New Testament in the Old Testament,
how they relate to each other and how they are connected to each other.
And I think that, I don't know, I feel like it's messing with me.
But is it fine? Alright, my wife's saying it's fine. I think she's lying to me.
So, what we see is that the writer of Hebrews begins to talk about the Old Testament sacrifices.
And if you're taking notes, then maybe you can write this down.
The first thing he points out is that they were unsubstantial.
And what we mean by that is the fact that they were symbolic.
And of course, this has already been brought up in the book of Hebrews.
And if you feel like the writer of Hebrews is repeating himself, you're right.
He is. He's really nailing this down and he's very much, what I would call, over-communicating some of these things.
But he does this for a reason.
And I would say that this, it's a legitimate reason that he over-communicates this.
Because in the first century, there were first century Jewish believers who were trying, if you read the book of Acts,
they were trying to bring Judaism into Christianity.
They were trying to bring the Old Testament laws and the sacrifice of those things into Christianity.
But the interesting thing, if you're with us in Hebrews chapter 10, and you're kind of looking at the writer of Hebrews,
who I believe to be the Apostle Paul, and you're thinking to yourself, really?
You know, are you going to keep talking about this?
And by the way, let me just say this. Chapter 10 is kind of the end of this section.
And then chapter 11 begins a new section that becomes a lot more practical, and of course chapter 11 is the big faith chapter.
But if you're wondering, you know, why is the writer of Hebrews just hammering this over and over again, and he won't drop this,
you know, consider the fact that there are still people 2,000 years later who aren't even first century Jewish believers,
but there are still so-called Christians around today that are trying to bring us back under the law of the Old Covenant.
They're trying to get us to keep the Sabbath day, they're trying to get us to keep all these holy days, and to have the dietary restrictions.
So when you consider the fact that 2,000 years later there are still those who are trying to be these Judaizers to bring us back into the Jews religion,
then you can understand why the writer of Hebrews is just really hammering this, why he just keeps talking about it and bringing it up.
And he's talking about the fact that, look, Jesus is better than all of that stuff in the Old Testament.
So notice there verse 1, for the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and then he says this, and not the very image of the things.
And look, again, how could you be more clear than that?
The writer of Hebrews is telling us here that the Old Testament law, the Old Testament, the ceremonial, the washings, the dietary restrictions, the sacrifices,
all of those things were symbolic of God's plan for dealing with sin and were not the actual plan for God dealing with sin.
And this is something that I really want you to understand. The law, according to verse 1, was a shadow of good things to come, and this is the important part.
In fact, if you don't mind marking your Bible, I'd like you to underline this little phrase, and not the very image of the things.
Not the very image of the things. They were unsubstantial. They were a shadow, they were symbolic of things to come.
I'd like you to go to Colossians chapter 2, if you wouldn't mind, just real quickly. We've seen these verses before, but I think it's good for you to see them again.
And if you're taking notes, I would jot this as a cross-reference. Hebrews 10.1 is a cross-reference, or you should have as a cross-reference, Colossians chapter 2 and verse 16.
If you go backwards from Hebrews, you have Philemon, Titus, 2nd and 1 Timothy, 2nd and 1 Thessalonians, Colossians.
Colossians chapter number 2. I think I'm going to make those guys come preach, and I'm going to go sit up there and see how that sounds.
This sounds good to me right now, just so you know. I think these ones got dialed in. Colossians 2 and verse 16.
Let no man therefore judge you in meats, or in drinks, or in respects of the holy day, or of the new moons, or of the Sabbath days, Colossians 2.17, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.
So I want you to notice that the Bible is very clear about the fact that these Old Testament ordinances were symbolic. They were a shadow.
They were not the thing, but they were a symbolic of the thing. He says not the very image of the thing.
They were a symbol that was pointing us to the real thing. Look at verse 1. Keep your place there if you don't mind in Colossians, because we're going to come back there.
But go back to Hebrews chapter 10 and look at verse number 1 again. Look at the second part.
For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things. Notice the second part of chapter 1, excuse me, verse 1.
And I really want you to see this. Can never, with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect.
Here the writer of Hebrews is telling us that the Old Testament law was never meant to deal with the problem of sin.
And he already just got done telling us that it was symbolic. It was a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of things.
And then he says the law can never, with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect.
Then he makes another argument for the same point. Look at verse 2. He says for then. And when he says for then here, he's saying, he's referring back to the argument he just made.
He just said, look, those sacrifices could never, they can never with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect.
He says for then, and what he's saying is, if they could make the comers perfect, if they could atone for sin, he says, would they not have ceased to be offered?
And the point that he's making is this. And if you consider it in regards to salvation, how many times does somebody have to get saved? And the answer is once.
You only get saved one time. Because if you understand what salvation is, salvation is forgiveness of all sins, past, present, and future.
And sometimes people get this idea, and they'll say, well, you know, I messed up, or I sinned, or I got backslidden, so I have to get saved again.
Well, you don't understand what salvation is, because salvation happens one time, and God forgives you, and Jesus cleanses you of all your sins, past, present, and future.
And what the writer of Hebrews is saying, if those sacrifices could have atoned for sin, look at verse 2, for then would they not have ceased to be offered?
He said, why did the same individuals keep going over and over, season after season, year after year, and offer the same sacrifices?
He says they did that because, look at the last part of verse 2, that the worshippers once purged should have had no more contents of sin.
He said, look, if they could have saved you, then they would have ceased from continuing to do it.
He said, in fact, the fact that they kept doing it over and over again shows that it never atoned for sin. Look at verse 3.
But in those sacrifices, there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
He's saying the fact that the Old Testament sacrifices had to be redone over and over again is a testament to the fact that they did not pay for sins.
And then he says it again, verse 4, for it is not possible.
It's interesting to me in the Bible, the things that God tells us are possible or that they are impossible, but they're possible with God.
But here he says, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
And again, you think, well, isn't this pretty basic? Why is he hammering this over and over?
I think we get it. But here's the point. The thing is this. You understand this and you get this because you go to Verity Baptist Church.
But do you realize that there are literally independent fundamental Baptists all over this country,
and even independent fundamental Baptists in Bible colleges all over this country that are being taught things like dispensational salvation.
And they'll say that because of dispensations, the dispensations, the different types of dispensations had different types of salvation.
And they'll say that today we are under the age of grace or salvation by grace.
But in the Old Testament, they were under the age of law and that they were saved by keeping the law and by performing sacrifices.
There are Baptists today who believe that and teach that till this day.
But the writer of Hebrews is saying it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
And the truth is this, that it was never meant, the sacrifices of the Old Testament were never meant to atone for sin.
They never could atone for sin. You say, then what were they? They were symbolic.
They were a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the thing. That's what the writer of Hebrews is telling us.
So he's telling us, number one, that they were unsubstantial. And then he's telling us, number two, that they were unable.
They were unable to cleanse from sin. They were unable to atone for sin.
They could never with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually, make the comers there unto perfect.
It is not possible, verse four, that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin.
The Old Testament sacrifices were not able and were not meant to take away sins.
And then I want you to notice, thirdly here in verse five, not only were they unsubstantial, meaning that they were symbolic,
not only were they unable, meaning that they could not take away sin, but they were also unsatisfactory.
God was not satisfied with them. Look at verse five.
Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offerings thou wouldest not.
The word would there is referring to what somebody wants. And what the Bible is saying here, sacrifice and offerings.
This is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to God. This is a quote from the book of Psalms. We'll see it here in a minute.
He says you didn't want. This was not your will. Look at verse six. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou has had no pleasure.
And what the Bible is telling us here is that these sacrifices never satisfied God.
God never looked down at these sacrifices and said, OK, thank you.
Now that you've killed that goat, now that you've killed that ox, now that you've performed this sacrifice,
we've appeased, you've atoned for sin, I'm satisfied. He said those things never satisfied God.
Look at verse seven. Then said I lo, I come in the volume of the book, it is written of me to do thy will, O God.
Verse eight. Above when he said sacrifice and offerings and burnt offerings and offerings for sin, thou wouldest not,
neither has pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
So these sacrifice of the Old Testament, they were just symbolic. They were a symbol.
They were unable to cleanse from sin and they were unsatisfactory to God.
We understand that the Jews, by the time Jesus and John the Baptist show up in what we call the New Testament,
the Jews have turned the religion of Moses into a workspace salvation.
And they literally believe that by keeping these sacrifices, they would go to heaven.
But those sacrifices would never satisfy God. Those sacrifices could not atone for their sins.
Go to Psalm, if you would, real quickly, Psalm chapter 40, just to give you the cross reference,
the quote that is seen here in Hebrews chapter 10 is from Psalm 40 and verse six. Notice what it says.
Psalm 40 and verse six. The Bible says sacrifice and offerings. You'll notice it's very similar.
Of course, the writer of Hebrews is quoting it. Sacrifice and offerings thou didst not desire.
Mine ears has thou opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings has thou not required.
Then said I, lo, I come in the volume of the book. It is written of me.
So the first thing we see is the writer of Hebrews speaking about the sacrifices of the Old Testament.
What is he saying? He says they were unsubstantial. They were symbolic.
He says they were unable in regards to dealing with sin. And he says they were unsatisfactory.
They never satisfied God. They were not satisfactory to God.
God never looked at a sacrifice of an animal and said, my wrath has been appeased.
Judgment has been done and I am now satisfied. Those were only symbolic to point us to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Go back to Hebrews chapter 10, if you would. And I'd like you to look down at verse number five again.
Hebrews chapter 10 verse 5. So the first thing we saw was the sacrifice of the Old Testament. That's the first heading.
Then I'd like you to notice the second heading. And the second heading is the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And again, we see this a lot with Hebrews where there's this compare and contrast.
We are going to compare and see some things and we're going to contrast and see some other things.
And of course, he's comparing and contrasting the sacrifice of the Old Testament and the sacrifices of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice what he says about the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what he said about the Old Testament sacrifices was that they were unsubstantial,
they were unable, and they were unsatisfactory. What he says about the Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrifice,
if you want to write this down for your notes, the first thing is this, that it was predetermined. Notice there verse 5.
Wherefore when he, and of course we just saw that this is a quote from Psalm 40.
And this is a quote from the Lord Jesus Christ or about the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible says, when he cometh into the world. When who cometh into the world?
This is the Lord Jesus Christ, right? The word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
In Hebrews 9 and verse 11 it says, Christ being come. That's what we're referring to.
So notice what it says. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith sacrifice and offerings thou wouldest not,
but, so here's what the writer of Hebrews is doing. He's quoting Psalm 40.
But Psalm 40 is opening up the spiritual veil and allowing us to see into heaven.
And to see before the Lord Jesus Christ physically came down to this earth, before he was conceived of the Virgin Mary of the Holy Ghost.
And this is a conversation that was had between the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father up in heaven.
What did he say? Look at verse 5. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith sacrifice and offerings thou wouldest not.
Jesus said, God the Father did not want sacrifices or offerings, but a body has thou prepared me.
So Jesus came down to this earth and it was already understood, it was already planned, it was already prepared,
it was already predetermined that he was going to come. And he says, you never wanted a sacrifice and offerings.
All of those sacrifices and offerings were just a shadow pointing to what you actually wanted and the sacrifice that would actually atone for sins,
but a body has thou prepared me. So I want you to notice that it was predetermined.
And again, you may think, I don't know why this matters or it's not a big deal.
And again, it's just because you come to a very devout church and you've been taught good things and praise God for that.
But you need to understand, again, picking on the dispensationalist today, but dispensationalist will teach that the Lord Jesus Christ dying on the cross was plan B.
That the old covenant was God's original plan, original intent.
It was how God wanted to deal with sins, which we've already seen in Hebrews chapter 10 is not true because the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins.
But they'll say, you know, Jesus came and they killed him and this was kind of plan B.
It wasn't really planned. It's just because the Jews rejected him and God's first initial plan was only through the old covenant and only through the Jews.
But here we see that this was already prepared. This was already a plan.
Look, the Bible says that Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And when all of this began, even at the moment that Adam and Eve sinned, it was already set in motion.
It was already planned that a body has now prepared me, Jesus said, the second member of the Godhead.
That he would come into the world and that God would never be satisfied with the sacrifice of offerings.
He says the sacrifice of offerings now what is not. So I want you to notice number one that it was predetermined.
Jesus was not plan B. The New Testament was not plan B. Gentile salvation was not plan B.
It was predetermined and prepared by God.
Then I want you to notice secondly, not only was it predetermined, but I want you to notice that it was predicted.
Look at verse six, in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou has no pleasure.
Then said I, remember this is all a quote from Psalm 40.
And this is us looking into eternity, looking into heaven before Jesus came down on this earth.
And we're listening in on a conversation between the second member of the Godhead, the Son of God, the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the first member of the Godhead, God the Father.
And he is saying in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou has had no pleasure.
Then said I, lo, I come. Notice these words, in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God.
So I want you to notice that not only was it predetermined that Jesus would come, it was not plan B,
but it was also predicted all throughout the Bible that Jesus would come because the entire Bible is about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Which circles us back to the first point that the writer of Hebrews made, that all those sacrifices were not the very image of the thing,
they were just symbolic, they were just a shadow, they were just a foreshadow of better things to come, which was of course the Lord Jesus Christ.
So the Bible says that Jesus said in the volume of the book it is written of me.
And the truth is that the entire Bible, Old and New Testament, it's all pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Go to Luke chapter 24 if you've seen these verses before, but I want you to see them quickly. Luke 24.
By the way, for whatever it's worth, it sounds a lot better to me, so thank you.
Luke 24 verse 27. In the volume of the book it is written of me.
The entire Bible is about the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament is all pointing to Christ.
The Gospels are really the core, the center of the entire Bible, and of course they're all about the life and ministry, the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then everything after the Gospels, the book of Acts, the Epistles, the book of Revelation, is all pointing us back to the Lord Jesus Christ.
So the Old Testament is pointing us symbolically through the sacrifices, also predicted through prophecies.
It's pointing us to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospels are about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then everything after the Gospels is pointing us back to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what the Bible says and that's what Jesus means here when it says in the volume of the book it is written of me.
Luke 24, look at verse 27. Notice what the Bible says. Luke 24 verse 27.
And beginning at Moses, this is Jesus, if you remember on the road to Emmaus after He'd already resurrected from the dead,
He meets up with those disciples. They're all discouraged and they're depressed about the events that have taken place.
They don't know yet that Jesus resurrected. Luke 24 verse 27. The Bible says,
And beginning at Moses, what is that? That's all the sacrifices. That's all the symbolic ceremonies of the Old Testament covenant.
Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Look at Acts chapter 10.
So I want you to notice that Jesus walking on the road to Emmaus with these disciples,
He started at Moses. He went through all the prophets. That must have been a great Bible study where He just explained to them all the scriptures, the things concerning Himself.
So He went through all the scriptures and said, that was about me, that was about me, that was picturing me.
He went through the story, I'm sure, of Abraham offering Isaac on the mountain.
He says that was picturing my sacrifice as the Son of God and God the Father.
He went through all the sacrifices, the burnt offerings, the peace offerings, the meat offerings, all those different things and He showed how they pictured Him.
He went through the tabernacle like we did a few weeks ago and went through every piece of furniture probably and showed how they all pictured the Lord Jesus Christ.
He showed them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Look at Acts 10.43.
Acts 10.43 says this, to Him give all the prophets witness that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sin.
So we see that the Bible says here that to Him give all the prophets witness.
And of course we know that there's lots of prophecies in the Old Testament about the Lord Jesus Christ.
We know that there are some very famous prophecies about the Lord Jesus Christ, very specific prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I want you to notice that when the writer of Hebrews here says keep your place there in Acts if you don't mind.
I think I asked you to keep your place in Colossians as well. Do that.
Keep your place in Acts. Go back to Hebrews 10 if you would.
Keep your place in Acts and keep your place in Colossians and go back to Hebrews chapter 10.
When the writer of Hebrews or when the Lord Jesus Christ says in the volume of the book that is written of me, the reference there is to the fact that He was predicted.
Let me just say this. The Bible is the best proof. The Bible proves itself that it is the word of God.
As Christians we should never be looking to an outside source to tell us that the Bible is the word of God.
We should never be looking at science and trying to get science to confirm the Bible.
Now here's what we should believe as well as believe in Christians that nothing in science will contradict the Bible.
The Bible is a scientific book as far as the science in it. It's never going to be contradicted by science.
But we do not put the Bible under the authority of science. We do not put the Bible under the authority of archaeology.
We do not put the Bible under the authority of philosophy. We don't put the Bible under the authority of history.
We don't try to find things outside of the Bible to confirm to us that the Bible is the word of God.
The Bible itself is the confirmation that it is the word of God. And the Bible itself is going to prove those things wrong.
Often times throughout history there have been things about archaeology so called or history.
And they'll say well this contradicts the Bible because the Bible says this happened but archaeology says this happened.
And then years later they find out oh the Bible was right and their archaeology was wrong.
Oh the Bible was right and their history was wrong. Or the Bible was right and their science was wrong.
So we need to remember that the Bible always is its own evidence. The word of God itself tells us that it is the word of God.
It is an internal evidence through the word of God. Now with that said let me say this.
One of those internal evidences is the fact that there are predictions and there are prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ that are specifically kept and that are specifically fulfilled through the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's internal proof within the word of God. That's why Jesus is saying here in the volume of the book it is written of me.
So we see that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ it was predetermined. He said a body has now prepared me.
We see that it was predicted in the volume of the book it is written of me.
But then I'd like you to notice thirdly that it was also predominant.
What I mean by that is that it was superior. The Old Testament sacrifices in comparison to the sacrifices of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The sacrifice of Christ was superior to that of the Old Testament sacrifices. Look at verse 8.
Above when he said sacrifice and offerings and birth offerings and offerings for sin that what is not neither has pleasure therein which are offered by the law verse 9.
Then said he lo I come to do thy will O God. Notice these words.
And again all of these Seventh Day Adventists, all of these Sabbath keeping Baptists, all of the Judaizers, the Jews themselves,
all of the just those that want to the messianic Jews, the Hebrew roots movement,
all these individuals that want to go back to Judaism and go back to the Old Covenant and try to bring us back under that law.
They need to look at Hebrews 10 9. Then said he lo I come to do thy will O God. Notice these words.
He taketh away the first. He taketh away the first. He taketh away the first. What is he talking about?
He's talking about the Old Covenant. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second.
And people will attack us and say oh you believe in replacement theology. I'm pretty sure that's what he's talking about.
When he says look he took away the Old Covenant. Why did he take it away? That he may establish the second. Why?
Because the second as we've been seeing in the book of Hebrews is better. Jesus is better than the Old Testament tabernacle,
the Old Testament sacrifices, than the Old Testament system. And he taketh away the first that he may establish the second.
And these individuals today that want to tell us no no you got to keep the Sabbath, you got to keep the dietary restrictions,
you got to keep these things. They need to realize that God has taken away the first. It's been replaced with what? The second.
He taketh away the first that he may establish the second. Now verses 10-14 we're going to come back to that here in a minute.
But I want you to notice that verses 10-14 they're dealing with a similar point but it's a slightly different point.
So I'm going to make that point in a minute but I want you to look at verse 15 because in verse 9, if you skip down to verse 15,
it continues this idea that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ was not only predetermined, was not only predicted, but it was predominant.
It was superior. Look at what he says in verse 15.
Wherefore the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us for after that he had said before this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days.
Now he's going to quote the book of Jeremiah. I'm not going to have you turn there because we actually went there just a couple chapters ago in the book of Hebrews.
We've already seen it. The big prophecy in Jeremiah of the new covenant. But notice he says here this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days.
Sayeth the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them. This is a reference to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Something that you and I have as New Testament believers that they did not have under the old covenant was that the Holy Spirit indwells us.
In the old covenant, under the old covenant, we actually talked about it on Sunday morning, under the old covenant the Holy Spirit indwelled the temple.
Under the old covenant the Holy Spirit indwelled the tabernacle. Remember when they dedicated the tabernacle, when they dedicated the temple,
the glory of the Lord entered into those buildings and indwelled them. But in the New Testament you are the temple and I am the temple.
And the Holy Spirit indwells us and this is why he says the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us.
Verse 16, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days. Sayeth the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them.
Verse 17, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
Praise the Lord for that. That's the opposite of. Because remember earlier in the book, earlier in the chapter, he told us in verse 3,
he said this, go back to verse 3 real quickly, look at Hebrews 10 and verse 3, but in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Look, every time that they brought a sacrifice, the Bible says that that sacrifice itself was a remembrance for sin.
And look, you have to consider the fact and really think about that. Sometimes we read these things and we just kind of read it and we spiritualize it.
It's just the Bible. It's a spiritual book. But put yourself in this place. Imagine that you were an Old Testament Hebrew living under the Old Covenant.
And every year you brought a sacrifice. You in your home had a goat or a lamb or an ox.
And you brought that sacrifice to the priest. And look, there was lots of different sacrifices and they were done in different ways.
They were dealt with in different ways. But the Bible says that oftentimes what these people would have to do is that they would lay their hands upon the head of the ox,
upon the head of the bull or the bullock, upon the head of the goat. And this was symbolizing that they were putting their sins upon.
They were identifying themselves with this animal. And they would lay their hands on the head of this animal as the high priest would come and slice the throat of this animal.
As it bled out. As it died. Now again, I'm not trying to be gruesome. I just want to paint the picture for you.
As they watched the life flow out of this beast, this does not sound like something you're just looking forward to. I can't wait until next time I have to bring a sacrifice.
It was probably something they dreaded every year. They sat there and held this animal down as they slit the throat and it poured out and it shed out the blood.
And as the life flowed out of this animal, this was a picture to them every year reminding them, these are the wages of my sin.
Death is the wage of my sin. It was a remembrance continually over and over, year after year, they were reminded of the consequences of their sin.
But you and I, under the better covenant, Hebrews 10.17, their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offerings for sin. Look, there's no need to offer any sacrifices for sin.
Because the old covenant law could never take away sin and the old covenant law was taken away. He'd taken away the first that he may establish the second.
So we see that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ was not only predetermined, it was predicted in the volumes of the book, he said.
It was predominant, it was superior to the old covenant because he'd taken away the first that he may establish the second.
And then I want you to notice, fourthly tonight, that it was prevailing. That it prevailed. Look at verse 10. Hebrews 10 and verse 10 says this.
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body. Remember we saw there in Psalm 40 and it's quoted there regarding Psalm 40.
He says a body has thou prepared for me. In the volume of the book it is written of me. He says but a body, verse 5, has thou prepared for me.
What was the purpose of the body? What was the purpose of the bodily incarnation of Christ? Verse 10.
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. And I want you to notice these words. You ought to underline these words in your Bible.
Once for all. Not continually, not every year, not daily sacrifices, not every day of atonement, over and over, year after year, a remembrance of our sins.
But the Bible says that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ was once for all. It was prevailing, it prevailed over sin.
See the sacrifice of the ultimate, they could never take away sin. They could never make the comers there unto perfect.
They could never relieve the conscience of the one performing the sacrifice. But when Jesus, the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, it was done once for all.
Once for all. We have a song in our hymn book that says once for all, taken from Hebrews 10-10. It's a beautiful thought to imagine, look, salvation is once for all by the way.
That's just a biblical way of saying once saved always saved. It's once for all. Free from the law, oh happy condition, Jesus has bled and there is remission.
Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall, grace has redeemed us once for all. Now we are free, there is no condemnation, Jesus provides a perfect salvation.
Come unto me, oh hear his sweet call, come and he saves us once for all. Children of God, oh glorious calling,
surely his grace will keep us from falling, passing from death to life. That is called blessed salvation once for all.
Once for all, oh sinner receive it. Once for all, oh brother believe it. Cling to the cross, the burden will fall. Christ has redeemed us once for all.
His sacrifice was prevailing. It was offered one time. All we needed, we didn't need it continually. We didn't need it again.
It was a one time sacrifice that covered everything and he continues to develop it. Look at verse 11, Hebrews 10 verse 11, notice what he says.
He's about to do this compare and contrast thing. I want you to notice it, verse 11. And every priest standeth daily. I want you to see that.
Because he's going to make this point and if you're not paying attention, you won't see it and you'll miss it.
He says look, because it kind of seems like, well you already talked about the priests and the sacrifices.
We already talked about that, now we're talking about Jesus, but now we're going to go back to the priests and the sacrifices.
But he does that to make a point, notice what he says. He says every priest standeth daily ministering and offering, notice the word, oftentimes.
He says priests, if you were to go to the Old Testament, if you traveled back in time and went to the tabernacle and watched the priests work, you would see them standing all day long.
Because think about it. They're performing sacrifices every day for the sins of the people. We're talking about millions of people.
They were busy because people are sinners. Business is good. One thing I've learned about the ministry is the more sinful you are, the better business is for me.
And I'm joking, obviously. It's job security. Job security, you're so sinful. These guys never had a chance to take a break.
They were never done. They had to keep bringing the sacrifices. They had to keep doing the sacrifices over and over.
Every priest standeth daily ministering and offering, oftentimes. Look at it, look at it. The same sacrifices. The same sacrifices.
Imagine the priest would be like, really? You're back again so soon? Already? Another sacrifice? The same sacrifices which can never take away sins.
But this man, here's the contrast, the Lord Jesus Christ. But this man, after he had offered, I love this little phrase.
One sacrifice for sins forever. That's salvation right there. One sacrifice for sins forever.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever. Look at the contrast. Sat down on the right hand of God.
Every priest standeth daily ministering and offering, oftentimes, verse 11. But this man sat down on the right hand of God. Why?
Because he didn't have to offer sacrifices year by year continually, like Hebrews 10.1 says. He didn't have to offer, he didn't have to stand daily.
And look, there's so many references in the Bible about the Lord Jesus Christ sitting at the right hand of God the Father. He sat down.
And the idea was this, that when he sat down, he sat down because he said it's done. It's finished. I'm done.
He doesn't stand daily, oft times, sacrificing and giving the same sacrifices which can never take away sins.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
Notice verse 14. And by the way, let me just say this. There's a lot there. There's lots of references to Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father and waiting for his enemies to be made his footstool.
Lots of references to that throughout the Bible. Look at verse 14. For by one offering he had perfected forever them that are sanctified.
This is eternal security my friend. By one offering he had perfected forever them that are sanctified.
When God forgives you of your sins, he forgives you of your past sins, your present sins, your future sins.
The truth of the matter is that when you and I got saved, all our sins were in the future.
The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross over 2,000 years ago. None of us were even around then.
When he died on the cross, all of our sins were in the future. But let me just say this. We've already talked about it. His death was predetermined and it was predicted.
He's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So it was already determined that he would pay for the sins of all mankind, even from Adam and Eve.
So it's one offering that he had perfected forever. One sacrifice for sins forever. Eternal security is this. One sacrifice for sins forever.
All my sins have been forgiven. Past, present, and future. It doesn't matter. It's all done. It's finished. He sat down on the right hand of God the Father.
We see that his sacrifice was prevailing. So the writer of Hebrews is giving us this information and he's telling us, he's giving us this contrast.
He says, look, the Old Testament sacrifices, they were unsubstantial. They were not the thing. They were not the very image of the thing.
He said they were a shadow of the thing. He says they were a shadow of better things to come, of good things to come.
And he says they were unable. He said the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins. He says they were unsatisfactory. They never satisfied God.
They never appeased God. He says that the sacrifice of Christ, because remember, the purpose of the book of Hebrews is to show us that Jesus is better.
And what he's telling us is that Jesus and his sacrifice is better than the sacrifice of the Old Testament because the sacrifice of Christ was predetermined.
The body has not prepared for me. It was predicted in the volume of the books it is written of me. It was predominant, he taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
And it was prevailing. One sacrifice for sins forever. And he sat down on the right hand of God.
Now real quickly, there's just one last thing I'd like to highlight for you before we're done tonight.
And that's all theology and good doctrine, and I hope you took notes and learned it.
But there is a practical aspect that I want you to notice here. And there's a theme in these verses.
And I'd like you to go back to verse number seven. We're going to back up to verse seven and come back to verse fourteen.
Because there's a theme that I want you to notice here that I skipped as we went through it, but I want to highlight it for you now as we conclude tonight.
And it is this. It is a theme of the will of God.
In Hebrews chapter ten and verse seven the Bible says this, Then said I, lo I come. This is Jesus speaking.
In the volume of the book it is written of me. Remember this was a view up in heaven and eternal looking into eternity before Christ came.
Conversation between the second member of the Godhead and the first member of the Godhead.
Then said I, lo I come. In the volume of the book it is written of me. Notice the words here, to do thy will, O God.
Jesus said that he came to do the will of God. And of course he's referring to God the Father.
We know that that's true because in the Garden of Gethsemane he said, not my will but thine be done.
He said to do thy will, O God. Then I want you to notice in verse nine he says this,
Then said he, lo I come to, notice the words here, do thy will. I come to do thy will, O God.
He taketh away the first that he may establish the second.
So we see these references to the fact that Jesus is coming to do the will of the Father.
And Jesus talks a lot about that in the Gospels. I'm not going to have you run the verses now.
But you can study that out on your own. He talks about the fact that he's here to do the will of the Father.
That he's here to do the work of the Father. That he's here to do the things that always please the Father.
And of course he says, not my will but thine be done. But then I want you to notice verse ten.
Because he's been talking about the fact that he came to do the will of God, God the Father.
But then he says this about us, verse ten. By the which will. We're talking about the will of God, the will of the Father.
By the which will, notice the words here, we are sanctified.
Now why don't you notice it doesn't say that we are saved. Although it could say that and it would be true.
Because God is not willing that any should perish. But that all should come to repentance.
But here he highlights something different. He's talking to people that are already saved.
So he's not telling them, God's will for your life is that you be saved. He's talking to individuals that are already saved.
What he says to them is not that God's will for your life is that you be saved.
Although we know that God's will for everyone's life is that they would be saved. He says to them, God's will for your life is that you be sanctified.
You should be sanctified. By the which will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
See, the offering of the body of Christ brings salvation. But salvation is not God's only will.
God wants you to be saved. But after you're saved, you know what God wants for you? To be sanctified.
Now the word sanctified means to be holy and we make much of that word and we should make much of that word.
But let us remember the word sanctified simply means to be set apart.
It means to be set apart and when we talk about being set apart or separation, we know that the Bible teaches that we are to be set apart from the world.
But it's not enough to just be set apart from the world.
We as fundamental Baptists sometimes we like to get this idea that we're separate from the world.
But look, being set apart from the world without being set apart unto God, that just makes you Amish.
That just makes you an odd cold.
The purpose of sanctification is to be set apart, set away, set away from the world for the use of God.
To be used of God. For the will of God. Look at verse 14.
For by one offering he hath perfected forever, notice the words, them that are sanctified.
It's interesting because people often times talk a lot about the will of God.
What's the will of God for my life? And I believe in the will of God. The Bible talks a lot about the will of God.
But you know the Bible is plain and we should put the emphasis where God places the emphasis.
God looks at you and says, you want to know what the will of God, you want to know what my will for your life is, is that you be sanctified.
That you be sanctified.
Go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 if you would. If you kept your place in Colossians, right after Colossians you have 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
Look at verse 3, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 3.
What's the will of God?
The will of God is that you would be separate. Be ye separate, saith the Lord.
Touch not the unclean thing.
That you would separate yourself from sin, from the world, from the lust, the desires of this world.
Not just for the sake of separation, but that you would separate yourself from those things unto God.
That is God's will. That's what he desires.
After you got saved, his will is that you would be sanctified.
Look at 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 3.
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.
And then he gets practical and he says that ye abstain from fornication.
But he says the will of God in your life is that you would be sanctified, even your sanctification.
Go to Romans chapter 12.
These are well-known verses. You probably know them, but let's look at them.
If you kept your place in Acts, remember I asked you to keep your place in Acts.
Acts, then the book of Romans, Romans chapter 12, look at verse 1.
Romans chapter 12 and verse 1, the Bible says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God.
Here's separation. Look at it.
That ye present your bodies a living sacrifice.
In the old covenant, they sacrificed bulls and goats.
You know what God wants in the new covenant? He wants you to sacrifice yourself.
A living sacrifice. Notice the words. Holy.
Holy is sanctified. Sanctification is all the same thing.
Holy, acceptable to God. The only thing that is acceptable to God is holiness.
The only thing that is acceptable to God is sanctification.
Holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
And then look at it. He just says it again. He just reiterates it in a different way.
And be not conformed to this world, that separation from the world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. That's sanctification.
See, connected with sanctification is Christian maturity.
As you and I grow in our walk with God, we grow in sanctification.
Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that...
Look at it. Just look at it. What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God?
And here's what I want you to understand. God has a will for your life.
God has... And the Bible doesn't tell us exactly, you know,
God wants you to live in this state and God wants you to marry this person and God...
In fact, let me just let you in on a little secret. God doesn't have a will for your life
that determines who you're supposed to marry or where you're supposed to live or any of that.
You understand that? God doesn't care who you marry.
He tells you, marry someone within these guidelines. Make sure they're saved.
Make sure you're not unequally yoked together.
As long as you marry someone that's saved, He doesn't care who you marry.
God doesn't care where you live. You know what guidelines He gives you?
Make sure there's a good church where you live.
Because it shouldn't matter to you what state you live in or what city you live in.
It shouldn't matter to you what church you go to.
So God doesn't care... People say, God's will for my life is... No, it's not.
I'm sorry. I'm not trying to offend you. It's just you can't show me a verse in the Bible
that says God's will for my life is that I live in this community.
God's will for my life is that I marry that person.
Well, it better be their will too or it's not going to happen.
You end up with a restraining order or something.
But I can tell you God's will for your life is that you be sanctified.
Sanctification. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.
But please understand this.
When we preach this, you know, we as preachers, we preach this and people hear this
and especially young people, they hear it and they think,
Oh, you're just trying to control us. You just don't want us to have fun.
You want to preach about sanctification and holiness
because you don't want me listening to rock music or rap music.
You don't want me smoking pot. You don't want me drinking alcohol.
You don't want me having fun. But listen to me.
The Bible says that God wants you to present your body a living sacrifice
wholly acceptable unto God.
He says be not conformed to this world.
Be ye transformed by the renewal of your mind.
He says that ye may prove.
And look, he doesn't say because I want you to just be a Christian robot.
Because I know that's what people often think.
But he says, look, if you would just separate yourself from the world
and sanctify yourself unto God, you know what you would experience?
The good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
And look, take it from me, please.
In ministry, my wife and I deal with problems.
Please don't misunderstand. I'm not complaining to you.
We love the ministry. We love the position we serve in.
But oftentimes I feel like the ministry is just going from problem to problem,
problem to problem. There's always somebody having a problem.
And I bring that up to say this.
If you would just separate yourself from the world and give yourself to God,
you would experience a good and acceptable and perfect life.
Because that life, the alcohol life, the worldly life, the fornication life.
That's a lot of fun. No, it's not.
Oh, I'm going to have a great time. No, you're not.
You're not going to have fun. It's not going to be great.
You're going to have regrets. You're just going to ruin and waste your life.
You know what the happy life is?
The happy life is when one man marries one woman, they have children,
they go to church faithfully, they serve God, they love God.
No secrets, no sin, no regrets. That's the happy life.
And God says my will for your life is not just that you would be saved,
but that you would be sanctified. Not because I want these holy robots,
but because it's the best thing for you.
It's the perfect will of God.
It's the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Go to Hebrews chapter 13, we'll finish up, look at verse 20.
Hebrews chapter 13, verse 20.
Look, I'm just telling you, do whatever you want.
You can live with regrets. You can live with pain.
You can live with hurt. You can live with hostility.
You can live with your husband hating you, your wife hating you,
your children hating you, your pastor hating you.
I'm the one person that will never hate you.
You can live that life and learn the hard one.
If you just listen to me, wife, you want a happy life?
Be meek and quiet. Submit to your husband.
Raise your children for God. Be a soul winner. Be faithful in church.
You'll be happy.
Husband, go home, go to work, work hard to provide for your wife.
And go home, love your wife, love your children, bring them to church.
Bring them soul winning. You'll be happy.
It's the happy life.
Hebrews 13 and verse 20.
Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus.
That great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
Those are the words.
Make you perfect in every good work. Don't miss it.
To do His will.
Working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight.
Through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
I'm just you. Take it or leave it. Do what you want with it.
But I'm just telling you.
The life of sanctification. It's well pleasing.
To God and you.
You know what the Bible says? The way of the transgressor is hard.
But Jesus says my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
So God says I have a will for your life.
What is it?
My will after salvation is that you be sanctified. Set apart for the use of God.
Lord we love you.
And we thank you for these portions of scripture and what the Bible says about these things.
Lord I pray that you would help us.
Help us to be thankful for the great sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That it was predicted and it was prepared.
And it was predominant.
Once for all.
One sacrifice for sins.
Forever.
But then Lord help us to remember that.
That's not the end of it.
Your will is not only that we be saved but that we be sanctified.
And that sounds real theological.
But it just means that we would live in a way that is well pleasing to you.
And when we do that.
It's good and acceptable to us as well.
Lord I pray you would help us. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Alright we're going to have Brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song.
Just want to remind you a couple of things if you wouldn't mind.
First of all don't forget if you're part of our homeschool group we've got P.E. talk.
And we don't want to postpone it or cancel it because I think we've cancelled the last two.
Because of rain. So we're just going to keep it.
But if you wake up in the morning and it's raining then it will probably just be cancelled.
Alright so just make a note of that and be aware of that.
And then of course be in prayer for the vision offering this Sunday.
And be praying that the Lord just allows us to have a great vision offering and be ready.
I hope you'll be ready to give on Sunday.
And of course our main soul winning time is on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.
We're going to have our big soul winning rally here in our new auditorium.
So make sure you're here for soul winning.
And of course we appreciate you being here.
If there's anything that we can do for you please let us know.
We'll have Brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song.
Turn to your song books page number 264.
Page number 264.
We're going to sing Once for All.
Page 264.
And let's go ahead and sing it out on that first verse.
So we're going to sing once for all.
Page 264.
We're going to sing once for all.
Page 264.
And let's go ahead and sing it out on that first verse.
Free from the law, happy condition.
Jesus hath bled and there is remission.
Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall.
Grace hath redeemed us once for all.
Once for all, O sinner, receive it.
Once for all, Brother, believe it.
Cling to the cross, the burden will fall.
Christ hath redeemed us once for all.
Now are we free?
There's no condemnation.
Jesus provides a perfect salvation.
Come unto me, O, here is we come.
Come and he saves us once for all.
Once for all, O sinner, receive it.
Once for all, Brother, believe it.
Cling to the cross, the burden will fall.
Christ hath redeemed us once for all.
Let's sing it out on the last.
Children of God, O glorious calling.
Surely his grace will keep us from calling.
Passing from death to life at his call.
Blessed salvation once for all.
Once for all, O sinner, receive it.
Once for all, Brother, believe it.
Cling to the cross, the burden will fall.
Christ hath redeemed us once for all.
Great singing.
Can I please have Brother Johnny close us a word of prayer?
.