1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,520 Our view of Christ's sacrifice is affected by our attitude toward sin. 2 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:10,920 Did you know that? 3 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:24,240 Dr. F.E. Marsh said, low thoughts about sin will lead to lower thoughts about Christ's 4 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:26,240 sacrifice. 5 00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:37,040 If you and I grasp the true nature of sin, we will deeply revere the work of the cross. 6 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:44,680 But on the other hand, if we are casual and impassive about sin, we will be indifferent 7 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:51,280 and nonchalant about the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:58,280 Our attitude toward sin greatly affects our attitude toward the cross. 9 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:03,120 So today I want to talk about Christ's sacrifice and sin. 10 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:13,840 I invite you to open your Bible with me to the book of Hebrews, the ninth chapter. 11 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:21,200 As we think about sin, it's helpful to remind ourselves what sin is. 12 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:26,960 Biblically, sin means missing the mark. 13 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:31,360 Sin is a distortion of the right way. 14 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:35,480 Sin is going beyond the boundary that God has set. 15 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:39,180 Sin is rebellion. 16 00:01:39,180 --> 00:01:46,360 It is in the inheritance of Adam's race. 17 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:52,280 Sin is a nature within each of us that is hostile toward God. 18 00:01:52,280 --> 00:02:02,360 Sin is a behavior that inevitably exalts self against God and chooses self over others. 19 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:13,200 Sin is the violence, the bigotry, and the greed in society, but it's also that which 20 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:18,600 is prideful and self-sufficient. 21 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:28,320 So you see, sin can be ugly and the disgrace of all, and yet sin can also be dressed up, 22 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:36,240 dressed up in culturally acceptable clothes, be applauded by man. 23 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:41,360 On the one hand, sin can stand naked in its perversity. 24 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:48,440 On the other hand, it can stand embraced by the world as the way to be and all of its 25 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,520 sin. 26 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:59,560 You see, what makes sin sin is not what man thinks about it. 27 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:04,680 It's what God says about it. 28 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:11,760 For you see, sin ultimately is anything that lacks conformity to God and comes short of 29 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,080 his glorious perfections. 30 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:20,200 All sin ultimately is directed against God. 31 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:26,640 Even when it is perpetrated against man or animals or the environment. 32 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:32,160 For all of these are made by God, and even sin that is directed against God's creation 33 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,940 ultimately is against the Creator. 34 00:03:35,940 --> 00:03:46,120 He as the Creator of all measures all against his righteousness, and he brings into judgment 35 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:51,160 everyone who is guilty of the least sin. 36 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:54,520 Everyone. 37 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,280 That's why the cross was so necessary. 38 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:04,500 That's why the cross was such an act of grace on the part of God. 39 00:04:04,500 --> 00:04:15,380 You see, it was necessary if any of us would escape judgment, for we have all sinned. 40 00:04:15,380 --> 00:04:21,520 And if any of us would escape the judgment of God, the cross was essential. 41 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:29,440 The cross was an act of grace because God didn't have to do anything, but he chose 42 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,520 to intervene. 43 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:37,440 God's holy laws of justice required death to sinners. 44 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:44,100 Eternal punishment for crimes against an eternal God. 45 00:04:44,100 --> 00:04:48,680 God alone could provide escape. 46 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:57,560 And he could provide escape only by providing an appropriate substitute. 47 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:03,040 Who being man could die for man. 48 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:09,560 Who being perfect could take the place of sinners. 49 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:16,480 And who being eternal God could satisfy eternal justice. 50 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:21,500 And you see, that's the reason for the incarnation. 51 00:05:21,500 --> 00:05:30,140 God himself had to become man, live a sinless life in this world, and then die a unique 52 00:05:30,140 --> 00:05:32,540 death. 53 00:05:32,540 --> 00:05:40,520 A death as a sacrifice on behalf of his rebellious creatures. 54 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:49,320 Jesus Christ perfectly dealt with sin by his work on the cross. 55 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:51,700 That's what we want to talk about this morning. 56 00:05:51,700 --> 00:05:55,280 And I begin reading in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 24. 57 00:05:55,280 --> 00:06:02,740 Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into 58 00:06:02,740 --> 00:06:10,160 heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. 59 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:15,720 Nor was it that he should offer himself often as the high priest enters the holy place 60 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:19,880 year after year with blood not his own. 61 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:26,920 Otherwise he would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world. 62 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:38,520 But now once, at the consummation of the ages, he has been manifested to put away sin by 63 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:43,160 the sacrifice of himself. 64 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:53,040 In the text there is a contrast between the temporary inferior priesthood of the Old Testament 65 00:06:53,040 --> 00:07:01,040 and of Israel with the priestly work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 66 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:06,640 In the context of that statement we learn several things about the sacrifice of Jesus 67 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:10,200 Christ for our sake. 68 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:14,040 First of all, what did he do? 69 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:20,640 The answer is he put away sin. 70 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:23,880 He put away sin. 71 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:29,640 The meaning of this word is that he canceled sin. 72 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:32,680 He set it aside. 73 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,600 He annulled it. 74 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:42,760 This word is used prior to this in the book of Hebrews, back in chapter 7 and in verse 75 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:48,360 18. 76 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:58,600 He says, for on the one hand there is a setting aside, there's the word, of a former commandment 77 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,560 because of its weakness and uselessness. 78 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:09,160 Now that commandment was the Old Testament law that established Aaron and his descendants 79 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,760 in the priesthood. 80 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:21,920 Now they carried out what God told them to do, but that whole system was only temporary. 81 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:23,960 And it could not remove sin. 82 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:28,720 It could only atone for or cover over sin. 83 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:35,640 So it says in verse 18, on the one hand there is an annulment, a cancellation of the former 84 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,720 commandment. 85 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:43,800 And then it says in verse 20, inasmuch as it was not without an oath, verse 22, so much 86 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:50,760 the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. 87 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:52,080 So the idea is the same. 88 00:08:52,080 --> 00:09:00,200 Jesus has established a better system, a better covenant. 89 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:04,200 He has offered a better sacrifice. 90 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,800 He is a better priest. 91 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:08,520 Why? 92 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,800 Because He is God, man. 93 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:15,740 And when He came into the world, He came into the world to deal with our sin. 94 00:09:15,740 --> 00:09:26,080 He canceled it, just as much as He set aside the priesthood of Aaron and was a priest in 95 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:34,360 the New Order called the Order of Melchizedek after that mysterious and famous Old Testament 96 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:36,900 priestly king. 97 00:09:36,900 --> 00:09:42,820 Just as He had canceled that old order and established a new one, so says the writer 98 00:09:42,820 --> 00:09:47,520 of Hebrews, He has canceled our sin. 99 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:54,160 Christ has abolished sin by His sacrifice. 100 00:09:54,160 --> 00:10:00,160 By His sacrifice He accomplished the elimination of it, the abrogation of it. 101 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:02,040 He repealed it. 102 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:06,280 He invalidated sin by His work on the cross. 103 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:08,960 That's what He did. 104 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:12,920 Now what is the result of that? 105 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:18,520 Well, there may be some skeptics who say, well, if Jesus did that, why is there still 106 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:22,120 sin working in the world today? 107 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,280 And work it does. 108 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:28,840 It is obvious that sin is still present. 109 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:32,960 So in what sense did Jesus cancel sin? 110 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:45,640 The answer is, He canceled sin as an issue between us and God. 111 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:53,620 He has annulled sin as an issue between the believer and God. 112 00:10:53,620 --> 00:10:56,280 That's what He's done. 113 00:10:56,280 --> 00:11:00,520 It is no longer an issue. 114 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:09,880 In verse 28, right after our text this morning, it says Christ, having been offered once to, 115 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:16,640 notice the next phrase, to bear the sins of many. 116 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:21,280 A similar idea to verse 26, but different words. 117 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:31,080 Here it says that He is going to take up and carry away the sins of many by His offering. 118 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:36,880 You see, He removes it as an issue between us and God is the point. 119 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:37,880 F.F. 120 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:45,660 Bruce says, His bearing of sin implies the removing of sin from others. 121 00:11:45,660 --> 00:11:54,040 And the consequent liberation of those who enter into the benefits of His self-oblation, 122 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,040 His self-sacrifice. 123 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:00,600 John puts it this way in 1 John 3, 5. 124 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:07,160 Christ appeared in order to take away sins. 125 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:12,880 Now a different word is used there than in these two verses, but the meaning is similar. 126 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:24,000 Christ appeared in order to lift up and to remove completely sins. 127 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:32,120 So when we think about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and sin, we need to begin by asking 128 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:38,440 ourselves the question, well, in His sacrifice, what did He do? 129 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:48,320 The writer of Hebrews says, He put away sin as an issue between us and God. 130 00:12:48,320 --> 00:13:00,080 He lifted it up from our shoulders and carried it away by His offering once on the cross. 131 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,920 That leads me to the second question, which I've already answered. 132 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:06,680 It is this, how did He do this? 133 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:08,320 How did He put away sin? 134 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:17,120 The answer is, according to verse 26, by the sacrifice of Himself. 135 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:22,960 Now it doesn't come across real strongly in the translation I've got, but as the author 136 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:29,440 of Hebrews was writing this, he emphasized that last phrase, by the offering, by the 137 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:32,320 sacrifice of Himself. 138 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,040 That's how He did it. 139 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:41,040 He put away sin by His self-sacrifice. 140 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:43,780 That's the emphasis. 141 00:13:43,780 --> 00:13:50,080 We see the same kind of an emphasis in the same chapter back in verse 12, when it says, 142 00:13:50,080 --> 00:14:00,880 And not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood He entered the holy 143 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:07,440 place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 144 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:14,960 You see the contrast is to Aaron and all of the Old Testament priests, who would carry 145 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:22,360 into the temple the blood of calves and of goats and of animals. 146 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:26,720 And they would sprinkle that blood appropriately. 147 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:32,240 But in contrast to all of that priesthood and all of the animal blood shed under the 148 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:40,400 Old Covenant, Jesus Christ once and for all, through His own blood, entered into the holy 149 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,640 place. 150 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:54,200 He removed our sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 151 00:14:54,200 --> 00:15:03,400 Notice the emphasis here on His own initiative, by the sacrifice of Himself. 152 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:11,840 But we see the other emphasis in verse 28, Christ having been offered. 153 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:17,160 Now in the English, if we don't have an active voice, we might have a what? 154 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:18,160 What's the other passive? 155 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:24,560 In an active voice, the subject does the action, right? 156 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:29,840 In a passive voice, the subject is acted upon. 157 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,460 This is passive. 158 00:15:32,460 --> 00:15:36,740 In other words, Christ was acted upon. 159 00:15:36,740 --> 00:15:42,720 He was offered by someone other than Himself. 160 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:44,400 That's also true. 161 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:47,160 And who is that? 162 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:48,760 Well we know the answer to that. 163 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:50,800 It is God. 164 00:15:50,800 --> 00:16:01,600 It is God our Father, who offered up His Son, who gave His only begotten Son. 165 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:08,200 So says the writer of Hebrews on the one hand, it was by the sacrifice of Himself He chose 166 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,320 to do this. 167 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:19,800 On the other hand, it is also true that the Father offered Him up on our behalf. 168 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:22,720 And He did this once. 169 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:27,800 O-N-C-E. 170 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:29,920 You need to know something. 171 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:42,600 That one word totally undermines the theology of the Catholic Mass. 172 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:48,000 The theology of the Catholic Mass is that Jesus Christ is offered up again and again 173 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:55,480 and again each time that the priest consecrates the elements. 174 00:16:55,480 --> 00:17:00,640 They become, according to Catholic theology, the blood and the body of Christ literally 175 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:08,200 and are offered again for the sins of the people. 176 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:16,460 This one word totally destroys that whole system. 177 00:17:16,460 --> 00:17:22,840 Because what that system says is that the offering of Jesus Christ is not sufficient. 178 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:28,520 It has to be done again and again and again and again. 179 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:39,400 But what the Bible says is that Jesus Christ's self-sacrifice once was all that was necessary. 180 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:45,800 It is absolutely impossible for Him to be offered again. 181 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:52,760 Verse 27 says, it is appointed unto man once to die. 182 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:58,960 That is true of all of us. 183 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:04,960 But the reason that it is put here is to show that man cannot die again. 184 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:11,480 Jesus Christ died once as a sacrifice. 185 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:12,720 It is unrepeatable. 186 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:18,920 It is unnecessary for it to be repeated. 187 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:23,120 Now let me just show you how He emphasizes this truth. 188 00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:31,560 Go back to, well look again at verse 28 where it says, once to bear the sins of many. 189 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:37,240 Verse 27, once at the consummation of the ages He offered Himself. 190 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:40,240 Go back to chapter 7, verse 27. 191 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:49,200 You may want to circle these phrases or words that emphasize the sufficiency of the sacrifice 192 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:51,000 of Jesus Christ. 193 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:59,640 He only had to die once for our sins. 194 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:06,760 It was fitting, verse 26 says, that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, 195 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:10,040 separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens. 196 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:17,720 This is Jesus, who does not need daily like those high priests, talking about Israel's 197 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:25,160 high priests, to offer up sacrifices first for His own sins and then for the sins of 198 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:35,480 the people because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 199 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:43,760 Now this is a strengthened form of the same word as once back in chapter 9. 200 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:50,200 So they changed the English rendering just a bit to hearsay, once for all. 201 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:51,240 Once for all. 202 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:57,960 Chapter 9 and verse 12, we looked at this a moment ago. 203 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:08,720 He entered into the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 204 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:11,120 Chapter 10, verse 10. 205 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:17,680 By this will of God, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus 206 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:24,360 Christ once for all. 207 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:29,200 Now look in verse 12 where a different word is used but the similar thought. 208 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:37,680 But He having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time. 209 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:41,280 For all time. 210 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:52,400 Verse 14, for by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 211 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:56,480 You see, it is finished forever. 212 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,340 What did He do? 213 00:20:58,340 --> 00:21:00,380 He sacrificed Himself. 214 00:21:00,380 --> 00:21:02,300 How did He do it? 215 00:21:02,300 --> 00:21:06,340 By His own initiative, by the Father's initiative. 216 00:21:06,340 --> 00:21:08,040 Once and for all. 217 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:09,040 It's done. 218 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:16,120 It is totally unnecessary for Jesus Christ to die for sins again, to be offered up before 219 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:18,420 God again for sins. 220 00:21:18,420 --> 00:21:24,000 In fact, it's impossible that He could be offered again for our sins. 221 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:29,820 It's finished and He Himself declared so on the cross. 222 00:21:29,820 --> 00:21:36,920 Now a third question comes to mind and that is, when did He do this? 223 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:44,280 I want you to notice the phrase back in chapter 9 verse 26. 224 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:54,700 He says, now once at the consummation of the ages, He's been manifested to put away sins. 225 00:21:54,700 --> 00:22:00,960 Notice that phrase, at the consummation of the ages. 226 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:08,160 There's another phrase that is similar back in chapter 1 verse 2 of this book that says 227 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:17,800 that in the past God spoke in many times, in many ways, but in the last of these days 228 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:20,120 He has spoken by His Son. 229 00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:23,880 Not the same phrase exactly, but a similar phrase. 230 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:32,580 It was a phrase that was used by the rabbis in the first century to refer to the times 231 00:22:32,580 --> 00:22:35,360 of the Messiah. 232 00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:41,580 And so the writer of this book of Hebrews picks up this rabbinic phrase as the Spirit 233 00:22:41,580 --> 00:22:45,240 of God directs Him and inserts it into the book. 234 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:52,640 And he says that He has been manifested to speak on God's behalf in the last of these 235 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:54,800 days. 236 00:22:54,800 --> 00:23:02,600 Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 10 and 11, the ends of the ages. 237 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:04,520 The same period is in view. 238 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:13,760 Peter says it this way, 1 Peter 1.20, the last of the times, here's the point, the coming 239 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:25,520 and the sacrifice of Messiah was the longing of all of the ages of the past. 240 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:34,480 And when He came, when He appeared and when He sacrificed Himself, He inaugurated a new 241 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:40,600 age, the present order of things that exists. 242 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:44,760 In one sense it is the climax of history. 243 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:52,040 For everything that had been longed for through the thousands of years preceding His coming, 244 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:53,520 He fulfilled. 245 00:23:53,520 --> 00:24:02,160 Dr. Leon Morris says, it was a common thought of the New Testament writers that God's decisive 246 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:06,520 action in Christ has altered things radically. 247 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:16,800 The Messianic age has come, the age that all the preceding ages have led up to. 248 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:23,720 He doesn't give us the length of this age and we know because we're alive in 1994 that 249 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:28,240 this lasted about 2,000 years up until now. 250 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:31,780 We are living in the last times. 251 00:24:31,780 --> 00:24:43,280 So did Martin Luther, so did Charlemagne, so did Augustine, so did Ignatius, so did 252 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,760 the apostles. 253 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:49,520 They lived right at the beginning of the last times. 254 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:55,520 And frankly I think we're living right at the end of this age. 255 00:24:55,520 --> 00:25:05,160 E. Schuyler English said, there have been many years since Calvary, but not many ages. 256 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:10,960 Many ages, however, preceded the cross and its divine sacrifice. 257 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:13,800 There was the age when Satan fell. 258 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:16,420 There was the age when Adam sinned. 259 00:25:16,420 --> 00:25:21,440 There was the age when God saw the wickedness of man's heart and his evil devices and sent 260 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:22,940 the flood. 261 00:25:22,940 --> 00:25:26,960 There was the age when Jehovah spoke at Sinai. 262 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:30,960 There were the ages of the prophets and of the kings. 263 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:35,520 But the consummation of the ages was the cross of Christ. 264 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:42,760 There we might say the history of the world, of the ages, came to its end when man in his 265 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:50,840 most wicked deed of all time rejected and crucified the Lord of glory, saying in effect, 266 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:55,200 we will not have this man to reign over us. 267 00:25:55,200 --> 00:26:01,700 Then however, the Lord Jesus Christ, by his superlative, unrivaled, and infinite sacrifice 268 00:26:01,700 --> 00:26:06,760 of himself, put away sin. 269 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:08,880 When did he do it? 270 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:15,260 At God's appointed time, at the consummation of the ages? 271 00:26:15,260 --> 00:26:22,880 One final question I want to ask it is this, for whom did he sacrifice himself? 272 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:30,480 And going back to Hebrews 9, the first verse we read, we notice that he has entered heaven 273 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:39,320 itself, now to appear in the presence of God for whom? 274 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:40,880 What does it say? 275 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:42,120 For us. 276 00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:44,320 For us. 277 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,760 For whom did Christ die? 278 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:52,760 The answer is he died for us. 279 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:55,680 Christ died for us. 280 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,480 That's the demonstration of God's love, Romans 5, 8. 281 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:03,400 He died for us. 282 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:11,680 While the value and the merit of the death of Jesus Christ has no limit because he is 283 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:21,360 infinite God, the application of his death is only for those who are chosen of God, those 284 00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:25,840 who come to faith in him. 285 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:33,880 Those of whom it is said in chapter 10, verse 10, we have been sanctified. 286 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:41,140 The word sanctified is used here in verse 10 in the sense of salvation. 287 00:27:41,140 --> 00:27:46,440 The writer of Hebrews uses it in that application. 288 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:51,520 We have been cleansed and set apart by God's saving act. 289 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:59,680 He says by God's will we have been sanctified. 290 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:05,600 Then again in verse 14 it says, for by one offering he has sanctified for all time those 291 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:11,720 who are sanctified. 292 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:12,720 Who are they? 293 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:17,560 We, he says, we who believe. 294 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:25,080 You see the death of Jesus Christ is sufficient for all people, but it's only efficient to 295 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:32,040 a peculiar people, a particular group, those that have been known in Christ before the 296 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:36,400 foundation of the world. 297 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:44,420 On the one hand he died for the world, but when he died he paid a price for a particular 298 00:28:44,420 --> 00:28:48,680 people who will be in heaven. 299 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:50,160 You say am I one of those people? 300 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:59,480 If you believe on Jesus Christ you are, without any question. 301 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:07,160 And now the same Savior who gave himself on our behalf on Calvary stands on our behalf 302 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:11,360 before the throne of God in heaven. 303 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:16,320 You see our standing before God is absolutely perfect. 304 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:20,080 It cannot be improved upon. 305 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:27,120 We can never be more saved, more righteous in God's sight, more accepted by God than 306 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:29,200 we are today. 307 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:35,360 Our standing before God is absolutely perfect and unchangeable. 308 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:47,800 But our state of being, where we are living today in our lives, is too often in sin, isn't 309 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:49,000 it? 310 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,800 We stray from the Lord. 311 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:54,820 We walk away from him. 312 00:29:54,820 --> 00:29:56,820 We deny him. 313 00:29:56,820 --> 00:30:00,280 We choose to disobey him. 314 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:06,720 And because of our continuing struggle with sin in our present state of being, we have 315 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:11,880 a high priest who stands before God on our behalf. 316 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:18,840 And whenever the enemy levels an accusation against us, saying God look at this one who 317 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:21,600 says he is your child. 318 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:23,240 Look what he has done. 319 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:27,160 I demand your justice be poured out upon him. 320 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:35,760 We have a high priest who stands before the Father who says Father, justice has been done. 321 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:40,040 I have paid the price for that sin. 322 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:47,040 And Satan slinks away back into the darkness. 323 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:55,380 The barrier between God and man since the Garden of Eden has been sin. 324 00:30:55,380 --> 00:30:58,680 That sin brought death and judgment. 325 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:03,160 It was appointed to us because of our sin. 326 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:10,180 Once to die and after that to stand before God in judgment. 327 00:31:10,180 --> 00:31:18,360 That sin had to be justly dealt with if we could ever be related to God again. 328 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:22,480 God's justice had to be satisfied. 329 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:28,240 Only when our sin was dealt with could God receive us. 330 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:39,760 Only then could we enjoy the benefit of knowing God and have a perfect relationship with God. 331 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:43,140 And Christ Jesus' sacrifice accomplished that. 332 00:31:43,140 --> 00:31:46,480 He put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 333 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:51,080 No longer is there a barrier between the believer and God. 334 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:59,040 Through the new covenant established in his own blood, we possess a perfect release from 335 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:07,600 guilt, a perfect freedom with God so that we may come boldly to the throne of grace, 336 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:14,200 a perfect hope for the future. 337 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:19,120 In Jesus Christ we possess all things. 338 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:25,120 So if you are a child of God here this morning and you are struggling with sin in your life, 339 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:32,040 I want you to know that there is one who stands before God on your behalf. 340 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:37,440 He intercedes to strengthen you in your battle and when you fail he intercedes perfectly 341 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:42,620 that your sin might not be offense and offense to God. 342 00:32:42,620 --> 00:32:47,280 He has dealt with that sin. 343 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:55,400 If you are outside of the family of God, if you are still lost in sin, then you need to 344 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:59,080 understand today there is only one answer for you. 345 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:05,660 God has provided one sacrifice forever for sin and that is Jesus Christ. 346 00:33:05,660 --> 00:33:11,440 And I tell you the world hates that exclusivity. 347 00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:20,680 It seems so bad in our day of multiculturalism to say that Jesus Christ is the only way, 348 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:24,640 but my friend that is what God says. 349 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:27,960 That's what the Bible says. 350 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:36,840 To reject him is to slap God in the face. 351 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:44,600 So we invite you today to come to him and to be saved and to receive him as your Lord 352 00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:45,600 and Savior. 353 00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:46,600 Let's pray. 354 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:55,520 Father, if there be some friend here today without Jesus, without the hope of eternal 355 00:33:55,520 --> 00:34:04,680 life whose heart is overburdened with past sin and guilt, if there be one here who is 356 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:13,720 dwelling in a living death and his life has no direction because of being alienated from 357 00:34:13,720 --> 00:34:24,080 you by his sin, I pray that he will see today the sufficiency of what Jesus did for him 358 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:30,200 and that he today will trust the Savior and come to the Savior and answer the Savior's 359 00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:37,680 calling. 360 00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:46,140 With our heads bowed and our eyes closed and as we pray to God, we're going to have an 361 00:34:46,140 --> 00:34:49,760 invitation hymn sung to us. 362 00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:55,520 I'm going to kneel in prayer here at the front and I invite you to come if today you need 363 00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:58,240 the Savior. 364 00:34:58,240 --> 00:35:05,320 And in coming say, I'm coming today also to kneel at the cross and to trust him. 365 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:09,880 And if you're a Christian who's away from God, I want to invite you to come as well 366 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:17,160 and to kneel at the cross and to forsake the way that you have been on and return to obedience 367 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:20,800 and following the shepherd. 368 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:24,820 I will be kneeling here and I invite you to slip out from your chair and come as others 369 00:35:24,820 --> 00:35:27,200 around you pray. 370 00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:28,200 Listen to the voice of God. 371 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:34,200 I'm going to come today also to kneel at the cross and to trust him. 372 00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:04,200 I'm going to come today also to kneel at the cross and to forsake the way that you have 373 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:34,200 been on and return to obedience and following the shepherd. 374 00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:04,200 I'm going to come today also to kneel at the cross and to trust him. 375 00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:35,200 I'm going to come today also to kneel at the cross and to trust him. 376 00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:05,200 I'm going to come today also to kneel at the cross and to trust him. 377 00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:35,200 I'm going to come today also to kneel at the cross and to trust him. 378 00:39:57,200 --> 00:40:04,200 Would you stand with me please? 379 00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:25,200 Father, we thank you for the voice of the Holy Spirit pleading for sinners to come to 380 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:26,200 Jesus. 381 00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:33,200 May we break our hearts for those lost in sin and break our hearts over our own sin. 382 00:40:39,720 --> 00:40:46,720 May we see the cross this season in new light as we understand what necessitated it and 383 00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:55,400 what it accomplished on our behalf by grace. 384 00:40:55,400 --> 00:41:02,400 Thank you for the cross and for the Savior who sacrificed himself there to take away 385 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:23,400 our sin. 386 00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:39,400 Let us be happy all the day because of the Christ who sacrificed himself for us once 387 00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:50,080 and for all. 388 00:41:50,080 --> 00:42:05,080 God bless you.