1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,880 Hebrews chapter 10. We're going to cover a big section today and we're going to go 2 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:19,360 through it pretty quickly. Quickly for me, which is not too quick, but we're going to 3 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:27,200 get through it quicker than you think is possible. Hebrews chapter 10. We'll start in verse 1. 4 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:33,160 We're really going to split this up into about four different sections. By the time we get 5 00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:40,600 to Hebrews chapter 10, what we have seen is that the author of Hebrews has begun to make 6 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:46,360 his case for Jesus Christ. He does so by starting with a lot of stuff in the Old Testament and 7 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:51,840 kind of working his way forward, pointing out how Jesus is better than those things 8 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:57,040 of the Old Testament. So the things of the law, the things of the prophet, the sacrifices, 9 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:03,480 the tabernacle, all of those things. He begins to make his point that Jesus is better. He 10 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:09,320 leads up to his main point that we see in 7, 8, and 9. That is that Jesus is a better 11 00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:15,480 high priest who offered a better sacrifice and who has brought about a new covenant. 12 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:19,640 That's what we've been talking about the last couple of weeks, the new covenant that has 13 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:25,540 been established through Jesus Christ. So the author of Hebrews by this point has really 14 00:01:25,540 --> 00:01:31,640 made his main argument. He's made his argument that he wanted to for his people. And we've 15 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:37,240 seen a lot of stuff as we've gone through the first nine chapters of Hebrews. We see 16 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:42,600 a lot of the Old Testament. The author of Hebrews loves to quote from the Old Testament, 17 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:48,580 and we're going to see some more quotations from that today. But after making his point 18 00:01:48,580 --> 00:01:55,900 through the first nine chapters, in verse 10, he kind of spells out, and here's the significance 19 00:01:55,900 --> 00:02:01,760 of everything that I have said up to this point. Here's how it applies to you. Here's 20 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:07,640 why it is important to you. And that's what we're going to talk about today. How is this 21 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:12,280 important to us? Now, we've looked at a lot of stuff from the Old Testament, a lot of 22 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:16,440 quotations and kind of learned a lot of things, maybe about the sacrifices and the tabernacle. 23 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:21,280 And we say, OK, well, that's all well and good. But what does it all mean? How does 24 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:26,080 it all apply to us? Well, we're going to see, and I think we have seen and talked about 25 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:31,200 in pretty good detail, how it applied to its original audience. So we're not going to talk 26 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:36,680 so much about that today as we are. How does this apply to us? What are we to do with all 27 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:41,880 this? What are we to do with all of these things that we have seen so far? Well, we're 28 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:46,920 going to talk about that in four different areas today as we go through Hebrews, Chapter 29 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:52,360 10. So let's pray and then we'll get started. Father God, we come to you. We thank you for 30 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:57,840 your good word. And I pray, God, that this morning that your Holy Spirit would be in 31 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:03,440 this place and among your people. I pray that you take away the distractions and the worries 32 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:08,080 of the world that are in my mind. I pray that you would take them from the minds of those 33 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:13,200 who are here, dear Lord, that in these few minutes that we would hear from you. God, 34 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:18,280 I pray that you take away any fear that I have today, any pride that I have today. God, 35 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:23,480 as I stand here and preach, it will be for you, dear Lord, and for your glory. And so 36 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:29,360 God, I pray that your Holy Spirit would help us to see Jesus in these words, God. We see 37 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:33,960 your word. We've seen a lot in your word, but God, we want it to apply to us. We want 38 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:38,680 to understand how it applies to us. We want to understand the significance and the importance 39 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:44,240 of Jesus and the necessity of Jesus in our life. And so God, I pray that if there are 40 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:48,760 any who do not know Jesus today, that maybe today would be the day that they would put 41 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:54,200 their faith in Jesus Christ. God, I pray that your word is powerful for us today, that it 42 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:59,760 speaks to us. Help me to know what to say and how to say it. Let your Spirit, God, do 43 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:08,480 the work today. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Hebrews chapter 10, verses 44 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:15,440 1 through 4 is where we will begin. Since the law has only a shadow of the good things 45 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:22,280 to come and not the actual form of those realities, it can never perfect the worshipers by the 46 00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:29,880 same sacrifices they continually offer year after year. Otherwise, wouldn't they have stopped 47 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:37,040 being offered since the worshipers, once purified, would no longer have any consciousness of 48 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:46,240 sins? But in the sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year, for it is impossible for 49 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:53,560 the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Now that last verse there kind of goes 50 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:59,080 back to something we talked about last week. And that is that without the shedding of blood, 51 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:04,200 there is no forgiveness of sins. But in the Old Testament, the shedding of blood was that 52 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:09,560 of animals. But here in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 4, it tells us that it is impossible 53 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:16,040 for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. So they had an old sacrificial system, 54 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:23,520 but the flaw in the old way of doing things was that the old way of doing things was a 55 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:32,880 constant reminder of their sinfulness. So here we see the problem. The problem is that 56 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:41,000 we are sinners, and our sinfulness is ever before us. Now, it was the same for the audience 57 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:48,760 that this was written to as it is to us. Our sins are sometimes painful for us. Sometimes 58 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:55,640 they are a burden to us. We are constantly reminded of our sins. The devil is constantly 59 00:05:55,640 --> 00:06:00,400 reminding us of our sins, even those who are in Jesus Christ. And there are some in this 60 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:06,420 room today, perhaps, that have never put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. And there 61 00:06:06,420 --> 00:06:11,800 may be things in your past that are just building up, they are piling up, and the burden is 62 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:16,760 on you, and you just cannot escape that. And you live with that day and night, and you 63 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:24,960 lose sleep, and it just eats away at you. And that is the problem that the people of 64 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:31,560 the Old Testament faced. In the way that they were doing things, there was no real forgiveness 65 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:39,600 of sins. Simply by offering the sacrifices year after year was a reminder to them that 66 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:45,960 they were sinful people. And so the author of Hebrews is telling them the flaw in the 67 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:50,280 Old System. And we've talked about that a lot in the last few weeks. The flaw was the 68 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:56,840 old sacrifices weren't good enough. The old way of doing things was not good enough because 69 00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:04,960 that reminder of sins was always there. Now you and I today probably have some sin in 70 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:11,400 our life that we constantly are reminded of. That's our problem, is that our sin weighs 71 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:18,160 on us, it pushes on us. And how are we to deal with that sin? Well, for those who don't 72 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:23,920 know Jesus Christ, we go back to the old ways of doing things. But if we continue to do 73 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:30,400 things in the old way, then our sin is still a problem for us. Our sin is still a burden 74 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:36,960 to us. We are still reminded of those sins. And so there has to be something new. There 75 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:41,680 has to be something better. There has to be some change that deals with our problem of 76 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:48,660 sin and the fact that it is ever before us. And that's true even for the believer sometimes. 77 00:07:48,660 --> 00:07:56,520 We come to Jesus Christ, we know that Jesus Christ forgives our sins, but even still, 78 00:07:56,520 --> 00:08:01,760 for some of us today in this room, there are sins that are in our past that are hard for 79 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:09,160 us to overcome. It's hard for us to get past those things. But what the author of Hebrews 80 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:15,280 says is that there has to be a way to move on from the problem. The problem is that we 81 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:21,480 are sinners and our sin is ever before us. Even probably some of you today as you come 82 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,880 into this building, there are sins that are weighing on you. Even as we talk about it 83 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:28,680 now, there are things that you're thinking about, but you don't know what I did. I did 84 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:34,580 this and I did that and I did the other and these sins, they pile up on us and we're reminded 85 00:08:34,580 --> 00:08:40,720 of these things. That's our problem today for non-Christians especially, but even sometimes 86 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:47,320 for Christians, we struggle with this problem. Well, praise the Lord, there's a solution 87 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:55,040 to the problem. We see that in the next few verses. Verse five, therefore, as he was coming 88 00:08:55,040 --> 00:09:01,040 into the world, he said, you did not want sacrifice and offering, but you prepared a 89 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:08,480 body for me. You did not delight in whole-burn offerings and sin offerings. Then I said, 90 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:16,520 see it is written about me in the volume of the scroll. I have come to do your will, God. 91 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:23,280 After he says above, you did not want or delight in sacrifices and offerings, whole-burn offerings 92 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:30,320 and sin offerings, which are offered according to the law. He then says, see, I have come 93 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:37,520 to do your will. He takes away the first to establish the second. By this will of God, 94 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:45,760 we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. 95 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:52,880 Okay, here's the problem is that we are sinners and our sin is ever before us. And so as the 96 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:59,080 author of Hebrews often does, he quotes from the Old Testament. He quotes from Psalm here, 97 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:05,280 Psalm chapter 40 verses six and seven. Now, sometimes we see references in the New Testament 98 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:11,040 in quotes that are applied to Jesus that really it'd be hard for us to know that was talking 99 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:15,560 about Jesus if somebody in the New Testament didn't tell us that. Well, this might fall 100 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:21,560 into that category. He quotes from Psalm chapter 40 verses six and seven. And if you read those 101 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:27,880 verses as we just did, it may not be obvious to us that that's speaking of Jesus. Now, 102 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:33,880 the first thing it talks about there is the sacrifices, the sacrificial system, the old 103 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:40,080 way of doing things. And it says that God did not delight in those things, that those 104 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:46,240 things were not pleasing to God. But then the second part of that verse that we just 105 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:55,720 read is here applied to Jesus. So God did not desire those types of sacrifices. He was 106 00:10:55,720 --> 00:11:01,880 not pleased with those types of sacrifices. But what does it say? It says, see, I have 107 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:08,000 come to do your will. Okay, God did not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, but there 108 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:14,800 is something that God delights in and that God did delight in. And that is one who does 109 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:20,360 the will of God. This here is speaking of Jesus. What this passage is saying, the author 110 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:26,580 of Hebrews tells us is the first way of doing things, the way that God had the sacrificial 111 00:11:26,580 --> 00:11:33,000 system set up. God was not pleased with that. That's not what he ultimately desired was 112 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:39,240 the blood of goats and bulls. What he desired was a people who would live according to his 113 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:43,880 will, and that's a problem. Now, God gives his people all these commands. He gives Moses 114 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:48,560 these commands to give to the people. And before Moses even gets back off the mountain 115 00:11:48,560 --> 00:11:53,360 to give them these commands, the people are already off the rails making the golden calf. 116 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:58,880 They've already been disobedient to the will of God, and that is the problem. What God 117 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:03,920 really desired more than anything was one who could do his will. Now, those sacrifices 118 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:10,120 were sufficient momentarily to kind of brush over those sins, but they never could really 119 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:17,000 forgive sin. The only way that sin was going to be forgiven would be when one would live 120 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:23,840 by the will of God and praise the Lord one has come in Jesus Christ. One has come in 121 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:28,320 Jesus Christ who has lived by the will of God. When you read in the New Testament about 122 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:33,280 Jesus, you begin to notice how many times that Jesus talks about doing the will of the 123 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:39,720 Father. That is what Jesus is concerned with first and foremost more than anything when 124 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:45,440 he comes to preach and teach. He always wants to make sure that he is in the will of the 125 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:52,800 Father. God was not satisfied with sacrifices, but as we see in the Psalm as the author of 126 00:12:52,800 --> 00:13:00,960 Hebrews pointed out, see, I have come to do your will. The author of Hebrews says, look, 127 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:07,560 the first way that was established, it's overtaken by the second way. The solution to our problem 128 00:13:07,560 --> 00:13:14,280 of sin is that Jesus Christ has come. Now, the problem for the original audience is they 129 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:20,520 wanted to go back to these sacrifices that were not pleasing to God. They were trying 130 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:26,320 to make amends for their sins in ways that would never please God. Now, what about you 131 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:31,760 and I? Are we ever guilty of that? Now, we're probably not guilty of going in our backyard 132 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:38,920 and sacrificing animals, but are there ever times that we try to make amends for our sin 133 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:45,760 by trying to please God by the things we do? Maybe sometimes we are guilty of that. We 134 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:49,860 do something that's really bad, and so we try to make up for it. I did something really 135 00:13:49,860 --> 00:13:54,440 bad this week, so I better make sure to go to church Sunday. I did something really bad 136 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:59,600 this week, so I better make sure. Let me just put a little extra money in the offering plate. 137 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:05,480 I did something that was a little bad this week, so let me go out and visit some folks 138 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:10,240 at the nursing home. We come up with all these ways because of that sin that we're reminded 139 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:15,720 of and that guilt is before us. We know that we are not right with God. It eats away at 140 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:23,200 us, and so sometimes what we try to do is we try to appease God by actions and ways 141 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:29,000 that God does not care about. This is not what gets us in right standing with God. These 142 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,760 are the things that we do. You ever got in an argument with your wife before? You said 143 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:35,880 something you shouldn't have done. You bought something you shouldn't have bought, and then 144 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:40,080 you send her flowers to work the next day. These are the kind of things we do. We think, 145 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:45,600 oh, I did something bad, and therefore I will make up for it by doing something good, but 146 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:52,040 that is not how Christianity works. We do not come into a good standing with God because 147 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:59,380 we can do anything good because we have failed to do the will of God, and God is not pleased 148 00:14:59,380 --> 00:15:05,480 with anything we can offer. We could sit here today and we could empty out our bank accounts, 149 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:09,640 and God is not pleased with that if our hearts are not right. No matter what sin you have 150 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:15,560 committed, there is not a thing you can do today to earn God's favor. There is nothing 151 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:22,320 we can do to please God for our sinfulness. There is only one who could please God, and 152 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:30,480 that is Jesus Christ because he lived by the will of God. So we have got to stop that. 153 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:34,960 Sometimes as Christians maybe we are even guilty of that. We try to balance the scale 154 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:39,920 a little bit. I have done some bad, let me do some good. The scale is balanced because 155 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:46,400 Jesus Christ has died on the cross for our sins. That is the only thing that balances 156 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:53,080 the scales. So when we sin, we do not need to have this attitude that I am going to do 157 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:58,480 better or I am going to do more. When we sin, we need to come to Jesus Christ because the 158 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:04,520 only thing that is pleasing to God is Jesus Christ, the one who followed his will, who 159 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:13,440 was the perfect sacrifice for us. So our problem is our sins that are ever before us. The solution 160 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:19,240 is Jesus Christ fulfilling the will of God and us making sure that we do not try to please 161 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:25,320 God by our works and our actions, but turn to the solution, that is the better sacrifice 162 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:34,720 of Jesus Christ that God has provided for us. Let us continue on. Verse 11, every priest 163 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:41,920 stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time which 164 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:49,960 can never take away sins. But this man offering one sacrifice for sins forever sat down at 165 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:54,640 the right hand of God. Now this is kind of where we started back at the beginning of 166 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:59,800 the book of Hebrews. It started by lifting up Jesus, by exalting Jesus. And what did 167 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:05,160 it say? That he is seated at the right hand of God. And why is that important? Because 168 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:11,680 that tells us that the work of Jesus Christ is complete. Now what does it say of the high 169 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:15,680 priest here? We've talked a lot about the high priest. But what does it say of them? 170 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:23,040 It said that they stand year after year to offer sacrifices in contrast to Jesus. The 171 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:27,920 priests are standing. Why? Because their work is never finished. If we're going to try to 172 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:33,240 please God by the things that we can do, then our work will never be finished. We will work 173 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:38,360 our whole life to try to earn God's favor only to discover that when we stand before 174 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:43,080 God in judgment, it is insufficient. That all of our righteous acts are like filthy 175 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:47,520 rags before the Lord. That's what we will figure out if we are trying to earn God's 176 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:54,720 favor on our own. The high priest stood year after year. They stood continually to do the 177 00:17:54,720 --> 00:18:01,640 work. Why? Because their work was never finished. But of Jesus it said he is seated at the right 178 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:09,580 hand of God. Why? Because his work is complete. When Jesus died on the cross, he said it is 179 00:18:09,580 --> 00:18:14,400 finished. What is finished? Everything is finished. Everything that needed to occur 180 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:22,320 for your salvation and my salvation has been completed and finished by Jesus' perfect work, 181 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:30,000 his death and his resurrection. The high priest works continually, but Jesus' work is finished. 182 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:36,440 So he tells his audience here, don't go back to the old way when all that needs to be accomplished 183 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:43,280 has been accomplished in Jesus Christ. Let's continue on. Verse 13, he is now waiting until 184 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:51,420 his enemies are made his footstool, for by one offering he has perfected forever those 185 00:18:51,420 --> 00:18:55,960 who are sanctified. What does that mean? We've seen this word twice here in the last few 186 00:18:55,960 --> 00:19:01,320 verses. That those who are sanctified, those who are in Jesus Christ are sanctified. What 187 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:07,120 does that mean? It simply means that we are set apart, that we are made holy. That's what 188 00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:14,160 that means. That those who come to Jesus Christ are set apart. We are made holy. We are a special 189 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:20,000 people. What a beautiful idea that is to know that we are sanctified, that we are being 190 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:24,640 sanctified. No, we haven't reached the state that we will one day reach when we are in 191 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:30,520 the presence of God, but we are a work in progress. That God has set us apart, that 192 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:36,320 he has declared us holy, and he is continually working on us to draw us closer to him. That 193 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:41,560 we can draw closer and do better at living by his will. We'll never succeed in that in 194 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:46,520 the way Jesus did. But the more that we grow in our walk with God, the more obedient we 195 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:54,600 should be in fulfilling the will of God. Verse 15, the Holy Spirit also testifies to us that 196 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:58,440 he will be a good man to us about this. Now, here he's about to quote from Jeremiah chapter 197 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:03,560 31. This is something that he did earlier in the book, and this is a pretty popular 198 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:10,920 passage, but here we'll see what it says. For after he says, this is the covenant I 199 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:16,760 will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws on their hearts 200 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:22,560 and write them on their minds. Now, what he had told the people way back in Jeremiah was 201 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:28,560 that one day he was going to establish a new covenant. Now, when we look at the Old Testament, 202 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:33,560 that's the Old Covenant. That's the sacrificial system. That's the laws. That's the thing 203 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:39,480 that God had put into place, and they had a purpose. And their purpose was to lead up 204 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:44,320 to Jesus Christ, and they fulfilled their purpose. But they were flawed. They were never 205 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:49,920 going to be sufficient. So God had said in Jeremiah 31, I'm going to send a new covenant. 206 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:54,680 That's the new covenant that God's going to write his words in our heart, that we would 207 00:20:54,680 --> 00:21:00,120 be the people of God. Not just the Jewish people, not just the people of Israel, but 208 00:21:00,120 --> 00:21:04,880 the Gentiles. That is everybody else. That God was going to make a new covenant that 209 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:09,880 would stretch to everybody in this whole world, no matter who they were, no matter where they 210 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,720 came from, no matter where they were born, no matter what color their skin was, that 211 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:18,200 the gospel of Jesus Christ, that the new covenant that was going to be established by the Bride 212 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:22,520 of Jesus Christ, was going to be one that would cleanse the heart, that would touch 213 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:27,760 the heart, that the Holy Spirit would indwell in God's people. And so he's reminding his 214 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:34,240 audience here of the new covenant to come. But what comes with the new covenant? Well, 215 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:42,660 here's what's important. Verse 17, he adds, I will never again remember their sins and 216 00:21:42,660 --> 00:21:52,320 their lawless acts. Now, while there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for 217 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:59,960 sin. Okay? So first we saw the problem. We saw the problem, that is our sin, that is 218 00:21:59,960 --> 00:22:07,720 ever before us. We saw the solution. The solution is Jesus Christ, who lived by the will of 219 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:15,000 God and accomplished the work that we could never accomplish. And here we see the result. 220 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:21,580 What is the result of the work of Jesus Christ? It is forgiveness. The result of the new covenant 221 00:22:21,580 --> 00:22:27,440 is that it brings forgiveness of sins. This was the biggest flaw of the Old Testament 222 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:32,480 covenant. It never brought forth forgiveness of sins, which is why the author of Hebrews 223 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:36,600 is telling his audience this. They want to go back to the Old Covenant and what he's 224 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:41,880 telling them is there is only forgiveness of sins in the new covenant. And what does 225 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:47,280 he say in that last verse? Now, well, there is forgiveness of these. There is no longer 226 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:53,400 an offering for sin. He is saying that forgiveness has come through Jesus Christ and there is 227 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:58,280 no other offering that is needed. There is no other offering that is going to be sufficient. 228 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:05,000 What Jesus Christ has done when he had offered himself is done. It is good. It is finished. 229 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:12,800 There is forgiveness through no other means than through Jesus Christ. That is what makes 230 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:18,640 Christianity so beautiful, is that there is forgiveness of sins. As one commentator I 231 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:25,760 read this week said, any religion that doesn't offer forgiveness of sins is a worthless religion 232 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:32,520 because that is our problem. Sin is our problem. That's the one thing that we cannot overcome. 233 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:36,720 And the problem that we see in our world today is there are lots of religion, there are lots 234 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:41,360 of people who are spiritual, but the problem with so many religions and so many religious 235 00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:47,680 groups and so many who are spiritual is that they do not deal with sin. They just say, 236 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:51,120 oh, you need to be a better person. You need to be this. You need to do that. You need 237 00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:55,080 to try to live better. You need to do all these crazy things. But the problem with so 238 00:23:55,080 --> 00:24:01,800 many religions and so many spiritual groups that we see is that sin is not dealt with. 239 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:07,280 And that is why Jesus Christ came was to deal with our sin because apart from Jesus Christ 240 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:15,120 we are helpless and we are hopeless. Our sin must be dealt with. We can never be good enough 241 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:23,760 to earn God's favor. And so the beautiful thing about Jesus Christ is that he brings 242 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:29,200 about forgiveness of sins. That's what we see here in the book of Hebrews. That's what 243 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:35,800 we need to get today because let me tell you this, God loves you today and Jesus Christ 244 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:40,640 died so that your sins could be forgiven. Now there may be some of you here today and 245 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:45,240 you have been burdened with a sin that's in your life that happened 20 years ago. Maybe 246 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:49,480 it was something that happened last week. I don't know, but I know that our sin is ever 247 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:54,200 before us and there's good news for us today, brothers and sisters in Christ and those of 248 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:59,840 you who have not come to Jesus Christ is that there is forgiveness today in Jesus Christ. 249 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:04,520 There is forgiveness of that sin. We don't have to carry the burden of that sin around. 250 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:09,080 We don't have to live in that sin anymore because when Jesus forgives our sins it is 251 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:15,880 cast as far as the east is to the west. It is a sin that is remembered no more. It is 252 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:21,120 a sin that is forever atoned for. And you may be saying, but you don't know the stuff 253 00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:25,840 I did. I did some bad stuff. No, I don't know the stuff you did. I don't know how bad your 254 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:31,520 sins are, but I know how good the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is. It's a sacrifice to cover 255 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:37,240 your sins and my sins and everybody else's sins no matter how bad they are and the devil 256 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:41,520 will burden us down with our sins. But I want to tell you today there is freedom from the 257 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:48,240 burden. There is freedom from the burden of our sin in Jesus Christ. We don't have to 258 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:54,760 carry those sins around anymore. Sometimes people will say this, it's foolish. They say, 259 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:58,960 well I know God's forgiven me but I can't forgive myself. Now that's just foolishness. 260 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:02,920 Nowhere in the Bible does it say anything about us having to forgive ourselves. We don't 261 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:07,480 have the power to forgive ourselves. There is nothing about any of that that makes any 262 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:13,000 sense whatsoever because it is through Jesus Christ that our sins are forgiven. And if 263 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:18,400 God has forgiven you of your sins, then woe be unto us to say, yeah I know God's forgiven 264 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,080 me but I just still can't get over it. If the creators of the heavens and the earth 265 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:26,720 sent his son to die for you and you've asked for forgiveness of that sin, then you can 266 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:33,720 grab a hold of the truth today of God's word that says your sin is forgiven. And don't 267 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:39,020 let the devil drag you down and remind you of that sin and let you wallow in that sin 268 00:26:39,020 --> 00:26:44,160 and the shame of that sin but you need to find the freedom that comes in Jesus Christ 269 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:48,360 through forgiveness of that sin today. If there are sins of your past and you've given 270 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:52,920 them to Jesus, then they have been forgiven. And there may be some of you today though 271 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:58,400 you've never put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. I want to tell you today there's forgiveness. 272 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:03,400 I don't know what you did. I don't know how bad it is but I know how good Jesus is. And 273 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:07,780 I know that he died on the cross so that your sins could be forgiven this morning. This 274 00:27:07,780 --> 00:27:14,080 is the beauty. This is the beauty of Christianity. It gives you a peace and a joy that comes 275 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:18,720 through that forgiveness. That's what the whole world needs. We need peace. We need 276 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:22,800 joy. We need comfort. And the whole world, there are so many people in the world that 277 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,860 are struggling because they have not found that. Because they're trying to make amends 278 00:27:26,860 --> 00:27:32,480 for the sins of their past by their own actions and good deeds and that sin is constantly 279 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:38,520 a reminder to them and they have no freedom from that. But I want to tell you today there's 280 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:43,560 freedom in Jesus Christ. When we come before God and say, God, there's nothing I can do. 281 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:47,480 I'm going to quit trying on my own. I'm going to trust in the one that you sent for me in 282 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:55,560 Jesus Christ. It is then that we will find comfort. It is then that we will find joy. 283 00:27:55,560 --> 00:28:00,380 So we've seen the problem is our sin. We've seen the solution is that Jesus Christ has 284 00:28:00,380 --> 00:28:06,300 come to die for our sin. We've seen the result of what Jesus did and that is he has brought 285 00:28:06,300 --> 00:28:11,860 forgiveness of our sins today. And that's a beautiful thing this morning. Let's continue 286 00:28:11,860 --> 00:28:19,720 on last section. Verse 19. Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary 287 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:26,080 through the blood of Jesus by a new and living way, he has opened for us through the curtain, 288 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:31,920 that is his flesh. And since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us 289 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:37,720 draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from 290 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:44,460 an evil conscious and our bodies washed in pure water. Okay, so if we know the problem, 291 00:28:44,460 --> 00:28:50,280 if we know the solution and we see the result of the solution, then what are we to do with 292 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:56,560 that? What should our response be? Well, he begins to tell us that here in this section. 293 00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:02,120 And what does he say? He says, we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of 294 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:07,080 Jesus Christ, that is his flesh. Now we've talked some about the veil and the veil was 295 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:11,880 torn when Jesus died on the cross and the veil was that separator. It was just a big 296 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:17,320 curtain, but that's what separated the most holy place from the holy place. That's the 297 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:22,560 spot where only the high priest could go to once a year. And so the author of Hebrews 298 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:27,840 is reminding us of that here. When he uses that same language, when he talks about that 299 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:32,720 we boldly enter into the sanctuary. And how do we enter in there? Not by going through 300 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:38,160 a curtain, but by the flesh of Jesus Christ, that is through the death of Jesus Christ, 301 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:43,200 through his body that was nailed to a cross for us. That's our entrance into the presence 302 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:50,760 of God. But look at what he says there. He says, we have the boldness to enter the sanctuary, 303 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:55,560 the boldness to enter the sanctuary. Now in the Old Testament, there was only that one 304 00:29:55,560 --> 00:30:00,720 person, that high priest who could go once a year into the presence of God. You'd had 305 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:05,520 to be a pretty bold dude to walk up in the tabernacle and just say, you're going to go 306 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:09,160 strutting up in there in the holy of holies. Now you would have been a dead dude too, but 307 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:13,640 you'd have been bold before you was dead. Nobody in the Old Testament under the old 308 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:19,320 system would ever for a moment have even thought about going into the most holy place. You 309 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:24,360 know, I looked this week, I tried to find if there was ever any examples, recorded examples 310 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:29,320 of any normal person ever trying to go into the holy of holies. Now I know what the result 311 00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:34,280 would have been had they have tried to, and I could not find a single example anywhere, 312 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:39,520 any story of any just normal average dude that tried to walk up in the holy of holies. 313 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:45,400 Why? Because it would have took some boldness because they knew that they could not go into 314 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:50,200 the presence of God. There was a fear of God there, a reverential fear of God, not enough 315 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,780 fear of God or else they wouldn't have done half the stuff that they did. And maybe that's 316 00:30:53,780 --> 00:30:58,720 true for you and me too, but it would have taken a lot of boldness to go into the presence 317 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:04,000 of God. And in fact, you just couldn't do it. But what the author of Hebrews says, but 318 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:09,320 I've got good news for you. Your sins of old, you don't have to remember them. Jesus has 319 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:16,200 come and your sins have been forgiven. And the response, the result of that is that God 320 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:21,760 now allows us to enter into his presence through Jesus Christ. What a beautiful truth that 321 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:27,240 is for us today. That today in the midst of all of our sins, as rotten as we are, that 322 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:31,680 we come into this building today. And I'll tell you that if you go before the presence 323 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:38,360 of God today, if you boldly stand in the presence of God today and say, God have mercy on me, 324 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:44,080 I am a sinner. God, I don't deserve your grace. I don't deserve to be in your presence, but 325 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:49,720 God, I need you. Would you please forgive me and have mercy on me? Praise the Lord. 326 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:53,320 God will hear those prayers when they come from the heart. That is the boldness that 327 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:57,040 the author of Hebrews says that we need to have. We need to have that boldness to go 328 00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:04,920 before God today. And what does he say as he continues on here? Verse 22, let us draw 329 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:12,920 near. That's the call today that we would draw near to God. That's the call of Christianity 330 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:18,760 that we would draw near to God. In our sin, we are far from God. We are separated from 331 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:25,960 God. We are separated from the source of goodness and hope and life and comfort and peace and 332 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:32,400 joy. Those things are in God, but we are separated from those things. But what does the author 333 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:38,640 of Hebrews say? Let us draw near to God. Are we missing the joy of our salvation today 334 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:43,040 for those who are in Jesus Christ? Then let us listen to this call today that we would 335 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:48,760 draw near to God, that we would quit depending on our own ways and our own actions and we 336 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:54,880 would acknowledge our sin and give it to God and draw near to him, draw near to him and 337 00:32:54,880 --> 00:33:00,640 grow in our relationship with him and in our walk with him and in our service to him. For 338 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:05,920 those today who have not ever put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the call is the 339 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:11,120 same for you. That you would draw near to God, that you would turn from your sinful 340 00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:16,920 ways. You would turn to God, that you would draw near to him today in boldness, that you 341 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:21,560 would come before him with your sin today and repent of that sin and give that sin to 342 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:26,800 Jesus Christ who died on the cross to forgive it. That's the call today that we would draw 343 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:35,800 near to God and the forgiveness of sin that comes through Jesus Christ. So that our hearts 344 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:41,880 sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. Again, he's 345 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:46,560 using this same language that was used in the Old Testament. There was a sprinkling 346 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:51,880 of blood that would take place among the people and among the scrolls sometime that they were 347 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:56,320 reading from or parts of the things that were in the Holy Place or the Most Holy Place in 348 00:33:56,320 --> 00:34:00,880 the Tabernacle area. There were some things that were sprinkled with blood and then we 349 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:05,960 see the idea of being washed clean. This is the same type of language. Those who were 350 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:11,040 going to go into the Holy Place, they would have to be purified. That sprinkling of blood 351 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:17,280 represented the atonement for sin that had taken place because blood had been shed. So 352 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:21,880 he uses the same language from the Old Testament system that they would have made a connection 353 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:26,680 with but it's language that's appropriate to us today because our hearts, what does 354 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:33,560 he say there? He says, our hearts sprinkled clean. Well today, I'll tell you that our 355 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:39,480 hearts are only sprinkled clean by the blood of Jesus Christ. That's what God really wants 356 00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:44,880 to change is our hearts. That was the problem that we see so many times in the New Testament 357 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:50,760 is people were good at following the religious ways but their heart was far from God. Our 358 00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:55,680 heart is what has to be changed and our heart is only changed when it's sprinkled with the 359 00:34:55,680 --> 00:35:01,120 precious blood of Jesus Christ. That's the language that he's using here. That our hearts 360 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:05,080 have been sprinkled, that our hearts have been cleaned, that we've been washed in the 361 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:09,080 same way that in the Old Testament system those who would be in the Tabernacle area 362 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:14,080 would go to the basin and they would wash themselves so that they would be made pure 363 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:19,720 and all of this had to occur just so that they could stand in the presence of God. And 364 00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:25,720 the same is true for us that through the blood of Jesus Christ, through our sins being cleansed, 365 00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:34,200 we have the right now through Jesus to be in the presence of God for all of eternity. 366 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:40,560 Has your heart been sprinkled today? Have you been washed pure today? When we have baptism 367 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:45,240 that's exactly the same idea, the same kind of symbolism. That's the same thing that we 368 00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:49,960 recognize and we celebrate. That one who is coming to be baptized is acknowledging that 369 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:53,680 they've put their faith in Jesus, that their heart has been sprinkled with the blood of 370 00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:58,000 Jesus. And that when they go into the water and come out it symbolizes that they have 371 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:05,040 been washed clean, that they have been made pure. But what about you today? Has your heart 372 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:11,320 been changed? Has it been covered by the blood of Jesus? Have you been made clean today through 373 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:19,280 him? Are you pure today? The author of Hebrews says, let us draw near to Jesus. Let us be 374 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:27,960 those who draw near to Jesus today. Verse 23, last verse. Let us hold on to the confession 375 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:36,160 of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful. Now here's the response. Here's 376 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:44,040 the response. We saw the problem. We saw the solution. We saw the result of that solution 377 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:50,520 and now we're seeing the response. What is our response going to be to hearing the word 378 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:56,880 of God and hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ? Now for the audience of the Hebrews, they 379 00:36:56,880 --> 00:37:01,880 had a choice to make because they had heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were living 380 00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:08,480 by the gospel of Jesus Christ and they were being tempted to deny Jesus Christ. So how 381 00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:12,640 were they going to respond? How were they going to respond? Were they going to just 382 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:17,720 give up on Jesus Christ and go back to their old ways? Or were they going to respond by 383 00:37:17,720 --> 00:37:24,280 saying I'm going to trust in Jesus Christ? And here the author of Hebrews calls them 384 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:32,360 to action. What does he say? Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering. 385 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:40,320 He's saying to them, don't give up. Don't give up on Jesus. Your life is tough. You're 386 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:45,480 in the midst of persecution. I know that you're tempted to go back to the old way, but I have 387 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:50,800 told you for nine chapters now that the old way is not sufficient. I've tried my best 388 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:56,880 to point out to you every way how Jesus has come and Jesus is better and there is no forgiveness 389 00:37:56,880 --> 00:38:03,320 than anything else. And the old way is worthless. Don't look to the past, but look to Jesus 390 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:11,920 Christ. Don't give up. Let's read it again. Let us hold on to the confession of our hope 391 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:19,320 without wavering. Don't give up. Don't waver. Don't look to the past. Don't look to the 392 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:24,720 things of the past, but keep your eyes focused on Jesus so that you can keep going in the 393 00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:28,960 right direction. You see, they wanted to look at what was behind them. They wanted to focus 394 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:33,000 on what was behind them. But when you look at what's behind you, you're doomed to rip. 395 00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:38,200 You're not going to make it very far. You're going to have a bad go of it. Try it when 396 00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:41,360 you leave today. When you leave today and you pull out in the parking lot, when you 397 00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:45,040 start driving off, I want you to drive all the way home looking in your rearview mirror. 398 00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:49,720 Well, wait till I leave before you do. Because what's going to happen is, if you're always 399 00:38:49,720 --> 00:38:53,720 looking at what's behind you, you're never going to be able to make it very far to what's 400 00:38:53,720 --> 00:38:58,600 before you. So what the author of Hebrews is telling them is the same thing we see elsewhere 401 00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:05,000 in scripture, forgetting what is behind and looking at what is ahead. Don't look at the 402 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:08,960 old way. Don't focus on the old way. Don't let your sin get the best of you. The sins 403 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:14,640 of your past are forgiven. Leave them in the past and look forward to Jesus Christ and 404 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:20,960 do not waver in your trust in Jesus Christ. Continue to find hope in Jesus Christ and 405 00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:26,760 trust in that hope in Jesus Christ because there is no hope in any other. This is an 406 00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:31,080 important message for us today because maybe there will be times in our life that there 407 00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:34,960 will be things that come, things that occur, things that happen, some difficulties in 408 00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:40,120 our life and maybe we begin to question God. Maybe we begin to wonder why God does things 409 00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:44,360 the way he does. Maybe we begin to say, well, maybe God doesn't know what he's doing. When 410 00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:49,080 we face those tragedies and those difficulties, there are times in our life that we may be 411 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:55,080 those who are tempted to turn from God. Maybe there are those who come into our life and 412 00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:59,380 they begin to teach us other things that are not of scripture. They begin to teach us other 413 00:39:59,380 --> 00:40:03,960 religious things that sound pretty good and we begin to listen to those things a little 414 00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:10,000 too closely and pretty soon this happens sometimes. People begin to turn from Jesus Christ and 415 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:16,440 they begin to turn to other things, things that will not save them. And so our response 416 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:22,560 to hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ is to continue to live in the gospel of Jesus Christ, 417 00:40:22,560 --> 00:40:29,040 to continue to live in that hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ and do not waver. Do not give 418 00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:34,600 up on God today. He has not given up on you and you say, well, it feels like he has sometimes. 419 00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:39,160 Yes, sometimes it may feel like he has, but I can assure you that he has not given up 420 00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:46,880 on you. Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised 421 00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:52,440 is faithful. That's how I can tell you today, don't give up that God hasn't given up on 422 00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:58,240 you because he who promised is faithful. If God has promised to be with you and he has, 423 00:40:58,240 --> 00:41:03,080 he's going to be with you. It does not mean that everything is always going to be easy, 424 00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:07,480 but I assure you this, that the God who has promised to deliver us from this world, to 425 00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:12,800 give us eternal life, to give us a place that is free of sin and heartache and pain. If 426 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:19,040 God has made those promises to us, he is faithful to carry out the promises that he has made. 427 00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:29,040 So let us not lose faith in God who is faithful. We must stand strong. That was the problem 428 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:34,720 for the Hebrew audience. Everything he said up to this point was leading to this point 429 00:41:34,720 --> 00:41:40,080 that he could make this point that they would not turn from Jesus Christ, but they would 430 00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:46,760 remain faithful to God and know that God's promises are good. So don't give up on God 431 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:52,560 today. Whatever difficulties you may be going through, whatever hardships you may be experiencing, 432 00:41:52,560 --> 00:41:56,340 God loves you. He is not forgetting about you. He will give you strength on the days 433 00:41:56,340 --> 00:42:00,800 that you do not think you can make it because that's the only way that you can make it. 434 00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:09,320 So do not give up on Jesus Christ today because there is hope in no other. There's freedom 435 00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:13,840 today. There's deliverance today. Those sins of your past, they may be bad. They may be 436 00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:18,720 some of the baddest things that we could ever imagine, but Jesus has died to forgive you 437 00:42:18,720 --> 00:42:24,600 of those sins. Jesus has accomplished the will of God by giving his life on the cross, 438 00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:28,760 and as a result of that, he's established a new covenant by his blood, and that new 439 00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:35,400 covenant brings with it forgiveness, forgiveness both now and forevermore. So therefore, let 440 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:41,640 us today be those who go boldly before God, who draw near to the presence of God, and 441 00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:47,800 who hold firm on the truth and the promises of God that will fulfill in Jesus Christ's 442 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:53,080 crucifixion and resurrection. Let's pray. Father God, we come to you this morning. We 443 00:42:53,080 --> 00:42:58,440 thank you for your good word. I pray, dear Lord, that you would help us, that maybe struggling 444 00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:02,920 with sin, dear Lord. There are certainly things of our past, and we know the truth of your 445 00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:07,760 word that says we're forgiven, and we still just struggle, dear Lord. And we shouldn't, 446 00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:11,720 but we do because we're weak. So I pray that you would help us in that weakness. God, I 447 00:43:11,720 --> 00:43:16,600 pray that whatever sin we have today, that we bring it before you. And whatever we're 448 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:21,800 struggling with today, I pray that you'd give us peace, dear Lord. When we come before you 449 00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:27,040 with our heart to seek forgiveness, I pray, God, that we would know that we found it in 450 00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:33,200 Jesus Christ. God, maybe there's some here today that just need to hear that and know 451 00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:39,800 that truth, dear Lord, that they are forgiven. They don't have to live with the burden of 452 00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:45,280 the sins of the past, dear Lord. Maybe there are some here today, and that's been their 453 00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:49,540 story for years. God, I pray that you would just free them from that burden you already 454 00:43:49,540 --> 00:43:54,640 have in Jesus, but I pray today that they would just accept that, God, that they would 455 00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:59,400 rejoice in that fact, to know that their sin is forgiven. They do not have to carry it 456 00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:04,740 around anymore. God, maybe there are some here today, and they've never trusted in Jesus 457 00:44:04,740 --> 00:44:10,120 Christ. Maybe today they've never asked for forgiveness of their sin, but I pray that 458 00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:14,200 they would ask today, that they would repent, that they would come to you for forgiveness, 459 00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:20,040 dear Lord. God, they may be questioning or wondering how you could even love them, God. 460 00:44:20,040 --> 00:44:24,720 Do you even have enough grace to forgive them of their sins, dear Lord? I pray that today 461 00:44:24,720 --> 00:44:28,960 that they would know without a shadow of a doubt that your grace is greater than all 462 00:44:28,960 --> 00:44:34,200 our sins, dear Lord. I pray today that they would just give you their sin, that they would 463 00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:39,240 repent of it, that they would know that it's been nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ to 464 00:44:39,240 --> 00:44:44,800 be remembered no more, dear Lord. God, I pray that we would rejoice in the forgiveness that 465 00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:51,000 we've received. Dear Lord, if we rejoice in your forgiveness today, then let us forgive 466 00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:56,840 others, dear Lord. Let us take the experience that we have and the grace that we've received 467 00:44:56,840 --> 00:45:01,240 and give it to others, dear Lord, so that they can know the forgiveness of Jesus Christ 468 00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:06,080 and the love of Jesus Christ. God, I pray that we would be those today who would draw 469 00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:11,560 near to you, that we would come boldly before you this morning, and we do, dear Lord, because 470 00:45:11,560 --> 00:45:18,240 we are such rotten, evil sinners, dear Lord. Our sin, dear Lord, is greater than we can 471 00:45:18,240 --> 00:45:24,080 ever imagine, but your grace is greater than we could ever deserve. God, I pray that we 472 00:45:24,080 --> 00:45:28,560 would be those this morning who come boldly before you, not because of anything we've 473 00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:33,680 done, we've got nothing to offer, we've done nothing that's worth anything, dear Lord, 474 00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:39,800 but we come before you today because Jesus Christ has forgiven us of our sins. We come 475 00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:45,120 before you today to rejoice in you, dear Lord, to praise you, that you would have mercy on 476 00:45:45,120 --> 00:45:50,440 us and grace on us and lead us and guide us in our daily walk. God, I pray that you would 477 00:45:50,440 --> 00:45:56,900 help us to stand firm on those days that we may doubt you, on those days that we may be 478 00:45:56,900 --> 00:46:01,480 tempted to give up, on the occasions that maybe things of the world are tempting to 479 00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:07,000 us and other lies are tempting to us to try to turn us from you, dear Lord, that we would 480 00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:11,960 never give in to such lies, that we would never give in to such temptations, but God, 481 00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:15,640 we would know the promise of the truth of your word. It's a promise that comes through 482 00:46:15,640 --> 00:46:21,280 Jesus Christ and Christ alone. So let us be those who stand firm today. Let us be not 483 00:46:21,280 --> 00:46:26,120 those who turn away, but those who stand firm and grow in you and experience those promises 484 00:46:26,120 --> 00:46:31,200 for all of eternity. God, I pray that if anybody's got something on their heart today, that now 485 00:46:31,200 --> 00:46:37,040 they would respond in this time of invitation. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.