To DOWNLOAD an MP3 of this message, first right click here then choose "save link as" or "save target as". Older audio is removed to conserve server space, but is available by request.
SERMON:
SERMON:
At
our house we do the dishes from the right to the left. They pile up on the
counter to the right of the kitchen sink. They get washed in the sink, and then
they drain and dry to the left, in the dish rack. Exciting stuff, I know.
My
wife works nights a few days a week, so the job of fighting the on-going battle
again dirty dishes often falls to me. I get the kids supper, jammies, brush
teeth, devotion time, off to bed, and then I finish the night with a skirmish
or two against the flatware and the pots and pans.
Now,
I might be telling you more than my wife wants you to know here, but sometimes
the dishes have the opportunity to build up their ranks a bit before I initiate
a battle. Sometimes I have to fight a two fronted war with dishes on more than
one counter.
And
that's what makes it so great when I come home and find that someone has
already done my work for me. Call it a simple joy in life, but all it takes to
make my night is to come home and find the counter next to the sink empty.
Wiped clean and clear.
Maybe
you've had this same feeling somewhere else. You had some big task or project
that needed to get done, and when you finally rolled up your sleeves and
decided to get to work, you found that the job had already been done.
It's
this feeling of relief, rest, and peace that the writer to the Hebrews presents
for us today. Only it isn't the relief of finding a counter clean or some other
mundane task completed. In our reading for today the writer to the Hebrews
tells us that in Christ, all our foul sins have been washed clean away,
forever.
Hebrews
10:11-18 (ESV)
11 And
every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a
single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that
time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single
offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
15 And
the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with
them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,”
17 then
he adds,
“I will remember their sins and their
lawless deeds no more.”
18 Where
there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
▬
Now,
we don't know for sure who wrote the letter to the Hebrews. That's why we just
call him "the writer to the Hebrews". But we do know that he wrote
this letter to Jewish Christians. They were Jewish by birth, but Christians by
faith.
Because
the book of Hebrews talks so much about the Temple, the priests, and the
sacrifices that went on in the Temple, we think that this letter was probably
written to Jewish Christians who were living in the city of Jerusalem before it
was destroyed by Roman forces in 70 AD.
Christians
living in Jerusalem at this time would have been very familiar with the concept
of offering sacrifices at the Temple. Even if nobody came to the Temple there
would have been sacrifices offered every day. One lamb in the morning, and one
in the evening at least. But there were pilgrims coming daily to the Temple.
And during festival weeks Jerusalem was practically overrun with worshipers
coming to the Temple to offer the sacrifices prescribed in the Old Testament.
It's
this picture of busyness that the writer to the Hebrews compares to Christ. He
says...
"11 And every priest
stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. 12 But
when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down
at the right hand of God, 13 waiting
from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet"
(Hebrews 10:11-13 ESV).
The
job of the Old Testament priesthood was to do all the things that God had Moses
write down. Their job was to offer sacrifice, after sacrifice, after sacrifice
on behalf of the people. There were burnt offerings, sin offerings, peace
offerings, fellowship offerings, grain offerings, and on and on. There were
festivals throughout the year that God had set up for the priests to carry out,
and for the people to attend.
And
like the writer to the Hebrews points out, none of these rituals actually had
the power to really remove sins. The rituals were important. God Himself had
commanded they be done. But these rituals only had value in two ways.
First
of all, these rituals were a way that followers of the LORD could outwardly
express their trust in Him. In fact, none of these offerings had any power if
they weren't done out of faith in the God who commanded them.
The
prophets who came at the end of the Old Testament period, right before Christ
came, criticized the people of Israel harshly because they were bringing
offerings without faith. They brought the right offerings, but their lives
showed they had no faith in God.
They
indulged in sinful activities. They cheated their neighbors. They sacrificed to
other gods besides the LORD. And so when they brought their offerings to the
LORD's Temple, God wasn't pleased at all. These weren't the heartfelt actions
of a people who trusted in God's promises. These were the actions of a people
covering all the bases. Offering one more sacrifice to one more god. Or they
were the actions of a people who wanted to look holy to their neighbors.
Again,
the offerings of the Temple only had value when they were a genuine expression
of trust in Jehovah God. Trust in all He had promised, and ultimately, trust in
the greatest promise He had made - to send the world a savior who would take away
their sins and open up the way to heaven for all sinners.
▬
The
second way the Temple sacrifices were valuable was as a picture of the Savior
to come. Every time the life of some animal was taken, and it's blood poured
out on behalf of some worshipper, God was pointing forward to the sacrifice His
one and only Son would offer on the cross. That would be the only sacrifice
that would actually count.
The
writer to the Hebrews says...
"12 But when Christ had
offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand
of God, 13 waiting
from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single
offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified" (Hebrews
10:12-14 ESV).
What
a contrast. The priests were endlessly busy with their sacrifices. But when the
real deal came along, Christ Jesus offered Himself, once and for all, and it
was done. By His suffering and death all our debt of sin was atoned for.
Look
closely at verse 14. It says, "by a single offering he has perfected
for all time those who are being sanctified". That word
"perfected" means "to complete", "to finish",
like putting in the last piece of a puzzle that then stands whole and complete.
Jesus
Himself used the same word when He said, "It is finished" from the
cross of Calvary. His work of redeeming the world was done. Here in Hebrews,
the writer says that because of Christ, we have been finished too. Our
forgiveness is complete. As far as our redemption from sin and death and hell
is concerned, "It is finished".
It's
like coming into the kitchen and finding the counter bare and wiped clean.
There's nothing left to do. You can't take the dishes out of the cupboard to
clean them again. What would be the point? It's time to do like Christ did, and
sit down.
That's
the first real take-away from our reading today. In Christ we have been
completed, perfected when it comes to our salvation. Don't EVER think that
there's something left for you to do in order to be forgiven. Just let that
truth settle in your hearts and enjoy the relief, the rest, and the peace of
God's gift to you.
▬
This
picture alone is enough to set our hearts at ease. But the writer to the
Hebrews gives us another thought to solidify this peace. Let me read from verse
15 again.
"15 And the Holy Spirit
also bears witness to us; for after saying,
16 “This
is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their
hearts,
and
write them on their minds,”
17 then
he adds,
“I will remember their sins and
their lawless deeds no more.”
18 Where
there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin" (Hebrews
10:15-18 ESV).
▬
For
some reason people have a hard time understanding the difference between
"justification" and "sanctification". If there are two
Bible concepts to keep straight, it's these two. They're SO important not to
mix up.
Justification
is God saying, "You sinners are no longer guilty because of the offering
Jesus made in your place".
Sanctification
is different. Sanctification is the change that happens in our lives because we
actually believe God's promise of forgiveness.
Look
at it this way, justification is God's stamping us "not guilty"
because of Christ. Sanctification is God causing good words, thoughts and
actions to grow out of us after we come to faith in Christ.
▬
The
Holy Spirit mentions both in verses 15-18. When the Spirit talks about
putting His laws on our hearts and writing them on our minds, He's talking
about sanctification. This education in God's ways is on-going in the life of a
Christian, from the point of faith to the point of death, the Holy Spirit is
remodeling our hearts from the inside out.
But
this remodeling isn't what saves us.
The
Holy Spirit talks about what saves us when He adds, "I will remember their
sins and their lawless deeds no more" (verse 17). There He's
talking about justification. God simply saying, "Because of Jesus, your
sins are forgotten."
The
Holy Spirit mentions both justification and sanctification, but He doesn't
confuse them. He doesn't mix them up like we sometimes do.
For
the follower of Christ, justification is done, inward sanctification is always
in progress. It's like you've won a ticket to a Caribbean island in some
sweepstakes. Are you ready to go? Well, no. You've got some research to do
about the island where you're going and you've still got to pack - but as far
as the ticket is concerned, that's guaranteed. That is finished.
I
don't have to tell you this, but there are going to be times when we fail to do
what God wants us to do. Times when we stumble badly in our Christian walk, times
when we fall flat our faces in sin. And it's at these times that our hearts
will lie to us. Our sinful, doubting hearts will tell us that we have to get
things straight in our lives before we're forgiven. We have to sin less
tomorrow, or we'll lose the ticket to heaven. We've got to totally eliminate
some particular sin from our lives, otherwise we're not gonna be forgiven.
But
that's not the LORD's message here in Hebrews. The main idea here is that God's
work of saving us, forgiving us in Christ, that's done. There is no offering
for sin left to make. We should never think that there is - Christ has
completed it.
Take
those words to heart,
"I
will remember their sins and their
lawless deeds no more." Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no
longer any offering for sin" (Hebrews 10:17-18 ESV).
▬
We've
only got two worship services remaining before the end of the church year. On
Thursday we've got a special Thanksgiving Day worship service at 10am. And next
Sunday we'll celebrate "Christ the King" Sunday to close the church
year. But today is "Saints Triumphant" Sunday.
Why
are we saints? Because God has declared us holy
through faith in Christ.
Why
are we triumphant? Because there is no longer any
offering for sin left to make. In Christ, our victory is certain.
You
can't do dishes that are already clean.
You
can't be blamed for sins God has purposefully forgotten.
You
can't make a payment on a debt already paid.
So
what's left to do?
Rest,
and be thankful to God. And look forward to the day when you will stand before
the LORD's throne - perfected by one precious sacrifice, the sacrifice of
Christ Jesus our great Savior.
Amen.
The
peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and
minds, in Christ Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment