Why Jesus? What is Faith?

Introduction:

Trusting the Word of God, no matter how I feel, because God promises a good result.

Do I Have Faith? (Hebrews 11:1-3)

1. Does faith determine my Conduct ? (Heb 11:3)
2. Is faith how I seek God's Approval ? (Heb 11:2)

   Romans 3:28 - For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

   Romans 4:5 - And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness...

   Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

3. Does faith determine how I Understand the world? (Heb 10:28-29)

   "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." - CS Lewis

   Romans 10:17 - So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:49-00:51

  All right, open up your Bibles to Hebrews 11.

  00:51-00:51

  Are you there?

  00:53-00:54

  While you're turning there, you wanna play a game?

  00:57-01:02

  I was hoping for a little more enthusiasm, but this is the introduction we're going with, so we're sticking with it.

  01:04-01:05

  Would you like to play a game?

  01:06-01:07

  (congregation cheering)

  01:07-01:08

  That's the spirit.

  01:09-01:09

  I knew you would.

  01:10-01:14

  All right, have you ever seen people poorly describe their job?

  01:15-01:18

  I was looking at some of those this week, And here's the game.

  01:19-01:24

  We're going to take one of these poorly described jobs, and you're gonna tell me what the person actually does.

  01:24-01:24

  All right?

  01:25-01:25

  You ready?

  01:26-01:28

  Now this is a shout it out game, all right?

  01:28-01:29

  So if you think you know, shout it out.

  01:30-01:32

  I submitted these late on the outline.

  01:32-01:34

  Do we have these, do we have these and we can put them on the screen?

  01:35-01:37

  Okay, I take dead plants and animals and burn them.

  01:38-01:39

  What's the job?

  01:43-01:44

  Oh, we're not sure about that one.

  01:44-01:45

  That's a cook.

  01:46-01:47

  (audience laughing)

  01:51-01:51

  All right.

  01:53-01:54

  All right, this next one's a little easier.

  01:54-01:55

  You ready?

  01:55-02:02

  I let people borrow dead trees and ink as long as they promise to bring them back.

  02:02-02:02

  Shout it out.

  02:03-02:04

  Oh, you got that one.

  02:05-02:05

  Very good.

  02:06-02:07

  Very good.

  02:07-02:08

  All right, how about this one?

  02:08-02:09

  I love this one.

  02:09-02:13

  I spend the day asking people which is better, one or two?

  02:14-02:15

  The eye doctor, yeah.

  02:15-02:16

  Isn't that great?

  02:17-02:18

  Oh, here's one.

  02:19-02:20

  Here's one.

  02:21-02:27

  I plan a weekly party where we sing songs and talk to someone we can't see.

  02:28-02:30

  Then we all analyze a book he wrote thousands of years ago.

  02:31-02:32

  Then we give him some money.

  02:34-02:35

  Any guesses?

  02:36-02:37

  Any guesses at all?

  02:38-02:39

  Shout it out if you think you know.

  02:40-02:41

  I guess you have faith.

  02:42-02:43

  Yes.

  02:44-02:57

  And truth be told, what we are doing here today makes no sense, unless we understand the truth about faith.

  03:00-03:02

  So what is faith?

  03:02-03:05

  You know, we sure throw that word around a lot here.

  03:07-03:17

  And we've been going through the book of Hebrews and in Hebrews chapters one through 10, He's been calling for faith, come to faith, true faith in Jesus.

  03:17-03:20

  He's like, don't just be a church attender.

  03:22-03:30

  Don't think that you can please God by works, by religious ceremony, right?

  03:30-03:33

  He says you have to have real faith in Jesus.

  03:33-03:37

  And then we get to chapter 11 and that's what this whole chapter is about.

  03:37-03:40

  He explains and illustrates what faith actually is.

  03:41-03:48

  Specifically showing how faith works, or we could say showing how it shows.

  03:51-03:52

  So what is faith?

  03:55-03:57

  Well, I'm gonna tell you what it's not.

  03:58-04:00

  First of all, it's not wishful thinking.

  04:01-04:03

  You know, we use that word though.

  04:03-04:05

  I just have faith, it's all gonna work out.

  04:06-04:09

  That's not what biblical faith is, right?

  04:10-04:16

  Faith isn't check your brains at the door, as some people like to present it.

  04:16-04:22

  Like, well, you have faith, but I believe in science.

  04:23-04:27

  Like they're two mutually exclusive things.

  04:29-04:37

  Well, faith is also not ambiguous spirituality, right?

  04:38-04:45

  You hear people say, "Well, I'm a person of faith." Like, faith in what?

  04:46-04:49

  You can have faith in the wrong thing, right?

  04:50-04:51

  So what is faith?

  04:51-04:54

  I heard this definition years ago and it kind of stuck with me.

  04:55-04:57

  And I like this definition.

  04:58-05:06

  It's trusting the word of God, no matter how I feel, because God promises a good result.

  05:07-05:08

  That's faith.

  05:10-05:11

  Just unpacking that very quickly.

  05:13-05:16

  Trusting, trusting, what does it mean to trust?

  05:16-05:19

  It just simply means to take somebody at their word, right?

  05:20-05:26

  Like, okay, God, you said this, that's good enough for me, that's trust, right?

  05:26-05:28

  The second, the word of God.

  05:28-05:32

  You see, this is our objective source.

  05:32-05:36

  You know, faith isn't like, I just follow my heart.

  05:37-05:40

  I just follow my heart, that's where my faith is.

  05:42-05:44

  Bad idea, right?

  05:44-05:45

  Because the Bible says your heart's deceitful.

  05:46-05:52

  You know, or faith isn't just like, it's, you know, just what I think.

  05:54-05:55

  Have you ever had a wrong thought?

  05:57-06:01

  See, our objective source is the word of God.

  06:04-06:06

  Then the next phrase is, no matter how I feel.

  06:07-06:09

  Faith is not about feelings.

  06:11-06:12

  Faith is a choice.

  06:13-06:14

  Faith is a choice.

  06:15-06:17

  And it just simply boils down to this.

  06:17-06:20

  You trust what God said or you do not.

  06:20-06:21

  That's the choice.

  06:23-06:27

  Then the last part of this definition is because God promises a good result.

  06:28-06:30

  Just saying, I know that God's ways are best.

  06:32-06:40

  I just know when I seek to live my life the way God describes in his word, it's going to be a good outcome.

  06:41-06:43

  Like, well, what about when life is hard?

  06:43-06:43

  Yeah, guess what?

  06:44-06:45

  Newsflash, life is hard for everybody.

  06:46-06:47

  We all got stuff, right?

  06:50-06:52

  But God promises a good result.

  06:54-06:54

  That's faith.

  06:57-06:58

  So there you go.

  07:00-07:04

  That's the definition of faith, right?

  07:05-07:06

  Woo-hoo, you could have Googled that.

  07:08-07:26

  Honestly, you could have Googled that and received like 1.6 billion results in like half a second of all these definitions of faith, but you're not here for just some clinical definition of faith, are you?

  07:28-07:32

  Here's the bigger question that you should have.

  07:33-07:35

  You should be asking yourself, do I have faith?

  07:36-07:43

  I mean, do I have real, true, biblical faith in Jesus Christ?

  07:43-07:45

  That's the question that you should be asking.

  07:46-07:51

  So that's what we're going to ask as we get into chapter 11 on your outline, do I have faith?

  07:53-07:57

  Want you to test yourself with three questions.

  07:57-07:58

  All right, very easy.

  07:59-08:02

  Ask yourself, do I really have biblical faith?

  08:02-08:03

  There's three questions to ask yourself.

  08:03-08:07

  First of all, ask yourself this, does faith determine my conduct?

  08:09-08:11

  Does faith determine my conduct?

  08:11-08:12

  Look at verse one.

  08:14-08:33

  He says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, Stop there. So what is faith? He says it's assurance. And some translations say substance.

  08:37-08:50

  It's taking something that's hoped for, but not yet realized, and it's giving it substance.

  08:53-08:55

  Like, well, what does that mean?

  08:56-09:00

  Well, like, have you ever ordered something online?

  09:01-09:02

  I'm not even gonna ask you to raise your hand.

  09:02-09:02

  We all have, right?

  09:03-09:04

  Like it's 2023, Pastor Jeff.

  09:05-09:08

  I'm not exactly, you know, getting my hello fresh from the Pony Express.

  09:09-09:11

  Okay, have you ordered something online?

  09:11-09:16

  Well, when you do, they give you that confirmation number, right?

  09:17-09:19

  And I don't know about you, but okay.

  09:19-09:29

  I, there's still a little part of me that has this little bit of a doubt when I order something online and I'm actually gonna get it, right?

  09:29-09:31

  Anybody else like that?

  09:32-09:33

  No, just me, okay, all right.

  09:34-09:34

  Thank you, John.

  09:35-09:35

  Thank you, John.

  09:37-09:38

  This, okay, John.

  09:40-09:42

  The rest of you, the rest of you occupy yourselves.

  09:42-09:42

  John.

  09:45-09:47

  I keep that confirmation number.

  09:47-09:50

  When they send that, I keep, Okay, he does that, Joanne.

  09:50-09:56

  Okay, I keep that number and I save it in my inbox and I print it out and it's on my refrigerator.

  09:56-09:59

  And I print a copy that I wrote, you know, fold up and put under my pillow.

  10:00-10:06

  Because I wanna have that confirmation number because I have in my mind that something's gonna go wrong and they're gonna be like, you never ordered anything.

  10:06-10:07

  And I'm like, I have the number.

  10:08-10:11

  But that number is sort of like what faith is.

  10:11-10:17

  It's the thing that I'm holding onto until I get the thing that I'm hoping for, right?

  10:18-10:20

  I want this thing, I know it's coming.

  10:20-10:32

  They said it's coming, and they get, but until I have the thing that I ordered, this confirmation, I'm holding onto this, because this, this tells me, this tells me it's coming.

  10:32-10:34

  Right? That's what faith is.

  10:35-10:36

  That's exactly what faith is.

  10:36-10:39

  This is what I'm holding onto, because I know, I know it's coming.

  10:40-10:40

  Right?

  10:42-10:45

  The future promises are pulled into the present reality.

  10:46-10:48

  And I'm like, look, I know that heaven is real.

  10:50-10:51

  And you're like, well, how do you know that?

  10:51-10:52

  I'm like, because God said so.

  10:53-10:59

  And I am sure the turning from my sin and receiving Jesus Christ is going to get me to heaven.

  11:00-11:01

  And you're like, well, how do you know that?

  11:03-11:05

  Because God said so, that's how.

  11:06-11:07

  And I am so excited for heaven.

  11:10-11:10

  And you're like, why?

  11:11-11:14

  You're like, because of how God describes it, that's why.

  11:16-11:17

  That's assurance, right?

  11:18-11:20

  He says it's conviction of things not seen.

  11:21-11:23

  Conviction of things not seen.

  11:23-11:24

  Look, I've never seen heaven.

  11:24-11:27

  I am so excited for heaven, but you know I've never seen it.

  11:27-11:31

  I've never had somebody go there and send me a postcard.

  11:34-11:36

  I've never seen a resurrected body.

  11:39-11:43

  You know, honestly, I've never seen God.

  11:45-11:58

  But there's a conviction that comes with faith that, you know, sometimes when we use the word hope, what we really mean is wish, right?

  11:59-12:06

  Like when we say, I hope it doesn't rain, we're like, I'm wishing, I'm preferring that it doesn't rain today.

  12:06-12:07

  Well, too late for that.

  12:07-12:13

  But conviction is, I'm convinced this is true.

  12:13-12:21

  I have this unwavering confidence that the promise of God is going to happen.

  12:22-12:24

  I know that it's going to happen.

  12:27-12:28

  But here's the point, church, listen.

  12:29-12:31

  And here's how you can tell if you have faith.

  12:32-12:35

  Because the conviction of faith affects how you behave.

  12:38-12:44

  because you live according to what you really believe.

  12:47-12:49

  In every area, in every area, right?

  12:50-12:54

  This is a step away from this for a second, this is diet and exercise, right?

  12:55-12:56

  You live what you really believe.

  12:57-13:07

  If you really believe a certain diet or a certain exercise program is going to maximize your health, make you feel better, prolong your life.

  13:07-13:09

  If you really believe that, you're gonna do it.

  13:09-13:10

  Right, doctor?

  13:10-13:12

  You're gonna do it if you really believe it.

  13:13-13:17

  But if you think it doesn't make a difference what I eat or how I exercise, then you're not gonna do it.

  13:18-13:22

  But the point is either way, you live by your convictions, what you really believe.

  13:25-13:27

  And it's the same with biblical faith.

  13:28-13:32

  I live like I do because I really believe what God said.

  13:34-13:35

  Conviction.

  13:36-13:41

  So I have to ask you, as you're examining yourself, does your faith determine how you live?

  13:44-13:49

  Because listen, you don't really believe in Jesus.

  13:49-13:57

  You don't really believe in the word of God if he doesn't affect the way you live your life day in and day out.

  14:01-14:06

  If you have faith, you say, listen, There are things that I do because of Jesus Christ.

  14:09-14:16

  And you also say, because of my faith, there are things I absolutely would never do because of Jesus Christ.

  14:17-14:21

  That's conviction, that's life change, that's real faith.

  14:22-14:25

  Like, well, can you give me some like examples?

  14:25-14:33

  I could give you a billion examples, but I thought let's just go with, let's just go with three examples that Jesus gave very quickly, Matthew chapter six.

  14:33-14:35

  Jesus gave three concrete examples.

  14:36-14:37

  The first one is praying.

  14:38-14:42

  Do you believe, let me ask you, do you believe that God hears and answers prayer?

  14:43-14:43

  Do you believe that?

  14:43-14:50

  I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand because you're in church, and you'll raise your hand even if you don't believe it, but do you really believe that God hears and answers prayer?

  14:52-14:54

  Then let me ask you, do you pray that way?

  14:56-14:57

  Do you pray like you really believe that?

  14:59-15:00

  What about giving?

  15:01-15:02

  What about money?

  15:02-15:04

  We just talked about that, Matthew chapter six.

  15:04-15:14

  And that to me really is the most objective self-examining test, because God says this, if you give to him, he gives more back to you.

  15:14-15:16

  2 Corinthians 8 and nine, read it.

  15:17-15:21

  God says, if you give to him, he's going to give even more back to you.

  15:21-15:24

  So you can give even more to him and he'll give even more to you.

  15:24-15:25

  Do you believe that?

  15:30-15:31

  Do you really believe that?

  15:33-15:37

  Because if you say you do, my question is, well, how much money do you give to God?

  15:38-15:39

  How much do you give to the church?

  15:39-15:41

  How much do you give to missions?

  15:42-15:44

  And if you're like, yeah, I don't really give that much.

  15:44-15:45

  Well, then you don't really believe it.

  15:47-15:59

  But money is the most objective indicator of your faith because Jesus said where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

  16:00-16:03

  All right, oh, and here's one, fasting.

  16:07-16:16

  Interestingly, that's Jesus taught that, he lumped that right in there with praying and giving, but somehow we don't talk about fasting very much.

  16:17-16:20

  Fasting is abstaining from food to focus my appetites on spiritual matters.

  16:21-16:22

  That's saying, you know what?

  16:22-16:24

  I'm seeking nothing but Jesus right now.

  16:24-16:37

  I'm devoting all of my appetite to seeking Christ right now, to just drawing near to God as He has allowed me through Jesus Christ as we've studied in Hebrews.

  16:37-16:38

  I'm just focusing.

  16:41-16:59

  Do you believe that if you enter a season of fasting and you seek to really be tuned in to God and His word and what He has for you, do you believe that fasting makes a difference?

  17:00-17:01

  Do you believe that?

  17:06-17:08

  Well, when was the last time you fasted?

  17:11-17:22

  And you read Matthew six, all of these things, praying, giving, fasting, do you know Jesus drove home the same application point in every one of those spiritual disciplines?

  17:22-17:33

  And that's this, Jesus said, "You do these in secret if you really believe that God sees and rewards, acts of faith.

  17:35-17:37

  So there's your self-test to see if you really have faith.

  17:38-17:40

  Does it determine your conduct?

  17:41-17:45

  Secondly, verse two, do I have faith?

  17:46-17:50

  Well, the question is here, is faith how I seek God's approval?

  17:50-17:51

  Look at verse two.

  17:52-18:00

  It says, "For by it," or by faith, "the people of old," He's talking specifically about Old Testament people.

  18:00-18:03

  That's gonna be really obvious as we go through the chapter.

  18:04-18:08

  For by it, the people of old received their commendation.

  18:10-18:11

  What does that mean?

  18:11-18:12

  They were approved by God.

  18:16-18:21

  Salvation is by faith in Jesus alone.

  18:23-18:23

  Right?

  18:24-18:25

  And it was always that way.

  18:27-18:43

  We say that even in the Old Testament, remember last week we were in Habakkuk 2:3-4, previous verse here, Hebrews 10:38, "But my righteous one shall live by faith." Right?

  18:44-18:46

  And it's all through the New Testament.

  18:47-18:47

  Right?

  18:47-19:01

  Romans 3:28, "For we hold that one is justified by faith "apart from works of the law." Romans 4:5, "And the one who does not work but believes "in him who justifies the ungodly, "His faith is counted as righteousness." Ephesians 2, 8, 9.

  19:01-19:04

  "For by grace you have been saved through faith.

  19:05-19:05

  "And this is not your own doing.

  19:05-19:16

  "It is the gift of God, not a result of works "so that no one may boast." You see, that's the way it's always been, even for the people in the Old Testament times.

  19:17-19:19

  But you know, a question I get asked a lot.

  19:19-19:39

  We do Q&A day around here, and this question has come up a lot, And that's how are people in the Old Testament saved by faith in Jesus if they lived before Jesus was even born, let alone before Jesus died on the cross, right?

  19:40-19:42

  Like how were they saved by Jesus?

  19:43-19:56

  Well, as we talk about faith, You know, let's just let this be a timeline here.

  20:01-20:03

  And we'll put the Old Testament saints here.

  20:09-20:24

  And then Jesus Christ came, died on the cross, rose from the dead, as we've been talking "about the high priest, the sacrifice for sin." And then there's us, we'll just...

  20:26-20:28

  Are you okay with being called a New Testament saint?

  20:29-20:31

  Does that designation work for you?

  20:33-20:34

  New Testament saint.

  20:35-20:37

  All right, saints.

  20:39-20:39

  All right.

  20:42-20:55

  You're like, "Well, how were they justified by faith "if they lived before Jesus even came?" See, for us, our salvation is based on what Jesus Christ did.

  20:56-21:01

  We're looking back at an event in history, saying this is what God did through Jesus.

  21:02-21:04

  Our salvation is based on faith in that.

  21:05-21:09

  But as we talk about faith, this is critical.

  21:10-21:12

  Their salvation was based on what?

  21:12-21:14

  They were looking forward.

  21:15-21:23

  Their salvation was based on what they believed God was going to do through the coming Messiah.

  21:25-21:29

  So you see, either way, anybody in heaven, and if you're going there, you can test me on this.

  21:30-21:38

  Just grab random people in heaven that you run into and say, "Why are you here?" And they're all going to say the same thing, because of Jesus Christ.

  21:40-21:46

  But you lived long before he died on the cross, but I believed in God's promises of what he was going to do through the Messiah.

  21:47-21:50

  You see, on both sides of the cross, salvation is about faith in the Messiah.

  21:53-21:56

  But you know, as human beings, we're always looking for approval, aren't we?

  21:58-22:04

  We're always looking for approval from our friends, from our parents.

  22:06-22:07

  Maybe you're crushing on someone.

  22:08-22:12

  And all you can think about is, what do I need to say to get their approval?

  22:12-22:13

  How do I need to act?

  22:13-22:15

  What do we need to look like to get their approval?

  22:16-22:18

  And then we take that mindset to God.

  22:20-22:23

  And we say, what do I have to do to make God happy with me?

  22:23-22:34

  And biblically, the truth is this, there's only one thing that you can do to please God, and that's to believe Him.

  22:37-22:37

  That's it.

  22:40-22:41

  It's to believe Him.

  22:43-22:44

  (pages fluttering)

  22:48-22:54

  So we can say this, with faith, the substance is the word, right?

  22:55-22:58

  And it's the conviction that controls your behavior.

  23:02-23:04

  But this is the motivation.

  23:06-23:06

  Why faith?

  23:06-23:08

  Because faith is what pleases God.

  23:09-23:10

  Faith is what brings blessing.

  23:11-23:13

  So you have to ask yourself, do I have faith?

  23:13-23:18

  Well, ask yourself this, how am I seeking God's approval?

  23:23-23:25

  Because according to God's word, there's only one way to get it.

  23:26-23:32

  Then finally, number three, does faith determine how I understand the world?

  23:35-23:37

  Does faith determine how I understand the world?

  23:37-23:38

  Look at verse three.

  23:40-24:07

  It says, "By faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible." Interestingly, the first illustration that he gives us of true faith is believing that God created.

  24:09-24:17

  Now, he could have. He could have said, "By faith we believe there's a heaven." And he would have been absolutely right to say that.

  24:18-24:22

  But, he started with where we are.

  24:24-24:32

  The most fundamental doctrine of Scripture, and actually, the very first doctrine of Scripture.

  24:34-24:41

  And that is this, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

  24:44-25:00

  I don't know if you've noticed, but creation has become the most attacked doctrine in scripture, because Genesis one through three is foundational to every single thing that we believe here.

  25:03-25:04

  Like how did everything get here?

  25:04-25:05

  Why is man evil?

  25:05-25:06

  Why do we wear clothes?

  25:07-25:07

  Why is there marriage?

  25:08-25:10

  Why is there this like male and female?

  25:11-25:13

  Why is it set up that way?

  25:17-25:19

  Because that's how God created and designed.

  25:19-25:20

  That's how he laid it out.

  25:22-25:27

  God's word tells us to listen for the enemy to deter people from believing God's word.

  25:27-25:30

  What he does is he undermines the very foundation.

  25:31-25:37

  And if you can't see this, I say this lovingly, open your eyes.

  25:38-25:43

  That's what Satan has done, is undermine the word of God from the first verse.

  25:44-25:46

  For generations, what have we heard?

  25:48-25:50

  You know, we say in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and people are like, no, no, no, no.

  25:51-25:52

  We are a product of evolution.

  25:53-25:58

  It's millions and billions of years of chance and mutations and things evolving.

  26:01-26:02

  undermining the word of God.

  26:03-26:10

  And much more recently in human history, what have we seen?

  26:12-26:16

  You know, Genesis says God designed marriage to be between a man and a woman.

  26:18-26:20

  Do you see how Satan has undermined that in our culture?

  26:21-26:22

  Marriage between a man and a, no, no, no.

  26:23-26:24

  Marriage can be between two men.

  26:25-26:26

  Marriage can be between two women.

  26:27-26:29

  and we will legalize that.

  26:31-26:33

  It's undermining the word of God.

  26:35-26:49

  And if that's not absurd enough, it's almost like Satan's like, "What can I get them to believe next?" Because it's just getting crazier and crazier.

  26:50-26:56

  Because now it's, you know, the Bible says, "God created the male and female." And the world's like, "No, he didn't.

  26:57-27:00

  "There's 71 genders." Like, what?

  27:01-27:03

  That's like the first thing a little kid learns.

  27:04-27:05

  There's boys and there's girls.

  27:06-27:09

  And I'm like, surely that can't be undermined.

  27:11-27:13

  And yet here we are.

  27:17-27:18

  Do you see it?

  27:20-27:23

  Like, well, why is Satan going after creation so hard?

  27:24-27:25

  Because it boils down to authority.

  27:26-27:32

  Because if God created me, that means he's in charge and he tells me what to do.

  27:36-27:51

  But if I can believe that I'm not created, if I can believe that I'm this product of this evolutionary fairy tale, then I can justify living life by my own terms.

  27:52-27:52

  Why?

  27:52-27:54

  Because faith determines conduct.

  27:54-27:58

  Listen, creation and evolution are both faiths, by the way.

  27:59-28:01

  Like this is faith and this is science.

  28:02-28:03

  They're both faiths.

  28:03-28:03

  You know why?

  28:04-28:08

  Because there was only one person that was there in the beginning, right?

  28:09-28:12

  We had one eyewitness and he wrote it down.

  28:13-28:18

  So whatever you believe about the origins of the earth has to come from a position of faith.

  28:22-28:28

  But as faith determines conduct, creation and evolution, each one of those will take you on very different paths of conduct.

  28:30-28:37

  And that's his point here in verse three, that true biblical faith sees the world as God explains it.

  28:37-28:40

  The lens through which you understand everything.

  28:41-28:42

  I like how C.S. Lewis put it.

  28:42-28:43

  Do we have that quote?

  28:45-28:59

  C.S. Lewis said, "I believe in Christianity "as I believe that the sun has risen, "not only because I see it, "but because by it I see everything else." See, that's what Hebrews 11, three is talking about.

  29:00-29:04

  Through God's word, we can comprehend truth.

  29:04-29:06

  We can understand the world.

  29:10-29:19

  And that is exactly why the only way that you will grow in your faith is through the word of God.

  29:22-29:32

  That is exactly why Romans 10, 17 says, "So faith comes by hearing, "and hearing through the," what?

  29:33-29:34

  The word of Christ.

  29:36-29:38

  Like man, I just wish I had more faith.

  29:39-29:45

  Get your nose in the book, because that's the only way faith grows.

  29:47-29:56

  Listen, if you're not looking at life and seeing the world through the lens of God's word, listen to this.

  29:58-30:01

  You're going to expect things to happen to you that you should never expect.

  30:05-30:09

  And you don't expect things to happen to you that you should expect.

  30:09-30:11

  You're like, what in the world are you talking about?

  30:11-30:13

  You see it all the time.

  30:16-30:22

  Not looking at life through the lens of God's Word just gives you false expectations, and it wrecks people.

  30:23-30:29

  For example, looking at the one hand, you expect people to treat you fairly.

  30:30-30:37

  You expect everything to work out if you try to be a good person, and then that doesn't happen and you're devastated.

  30:39-30:39

  Why?

  30:39-30:41

  Because you had unbiblical expectations.

  30:43-30:43

  You see?

  30:45-30:50

  If you're walking around going, "Hey, as long as I'm a good person and I'm nice to people, "everything's gonna go my way."

  30:50-30:51

  (laughs)

  30:55-30:56

  That doesn't work, pal.

  30:58-31:02

  You are setting yourself up for a sad disappointment.

  31:04-31:07

  Or we talk about things you don't expect.

  31:07-31:10

  Oh, you don't expect to get sick, right?

  31:12-31:21

  You don't expect to lose a loved one tragically, but then it happens and you're devastated.

  31:24-31:26

  Why? Because you had unbiblical expectations.

  31:27-31:38

  And I've known people, even Christians, that just walk through life expecting things that the Bible never promises.

  31:40-31:43

  Or they don't expect things that the Bible absolutely promises.

  31:44-31:48

  And then their lives are wrecked.

  31:49-31:51

  I'm like, have you read the Bible?

  31:54-32:08

  Because if you have, and you have biblical faith, you can rightly understand the world and everything that happens in it with true expectations.

  32:13-32:15

  Are you still a little fuzzy on faith?

  32:18-32:32

  Well, we have a barrage of illustrations that are going to help us understand what faith looks like and how we can live a life of faith.

  32:33-32:35

  We'll start that next week, all right?

Small Group Discussion
Read Hebrews 11:1-3

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. In your own words, define Biblical faith.
   

3. How exactly were people in the Old Testament times saved by faith if Jesus didn’t offer His sacrifice yet (Heb 11:2)?
   

4. Why do you think creation is the first illustration of faith (v3)? How do you see God’s truths in Genesis 1-3 undermined today?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Why Jesus? Because We Do Not Shrink Back

Introduction:

What You Really Say When You Say NO to Jesus? (Hebrews 10:26-39)

1. "I prefer Sin over Jesus." (Heb 10:26)
2. "I'm Willing to go to hell." (Heb 10:27)
3. "Jesus is Nothing to me." (Heb 10:28-29)
   1. You are Spurning Jesus. (Heb 10:28-29a)
   2. You are Profaning Jesus' blood. (Heb 10:29b)
   3. You are Insulting the Holy Spirit. (Heb 10:29c)
4. "I'd Rather face God as my Judge than my Savior." (Heb 10:30-31)

   Matthew 24:13 - But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

I Don't Think I Really Believe! Now What?

1. Look Back: Remember your initial passion. (Heb 10:32-34)
2. Look Ahead: There is Reward for the faithful. (Heb 10:35-39)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:48-00:51

  Open up your Bibles with me please to Hebrews chapter 10.

  00:52-00:59

  While you're turning there, I don't know if you all know this about me, but did you know I became an accidental chicken farmer?

  01:01-01:01

  Did you know that?

  01:03-01:05

  You're like, how does something like that happen by accident?

  01:07-01:08

  That's a funny story.

  01:09-01:18

  But several years ago, what was it, three years ago, four years ago, something like that, My wife was at the tractor supply.

  01:21-01:28

  And some guy, I don't know if he was an employee or another customer, some guy was kinda like hitting on her and flirting with her, so she calls me.

  01:28-01:43

  I was at the chiropractor, like down the road across the street, and she goes, "Hey, I'm looking at these chicks, they're 50 cents." And she's just like, "Yeah, I'm on the phone "with my husband." So I didn't, of course I was clueless.

  01:43-01:49

  I show up, I come down to the tractor supply, and I'm like, 50 cents, well, let's buy a dozen.

  01:51-01:55

  And she's like, I called you just to try to get this guy off my back.

  01:55-01:59

  Well, several coops, enclosures, a fence.

  02:01-02:05

  We are on our third flock of chickens.

  02:07-02:09

  And we just wanted the eggs, right?

  02:09-02:10

  We just want the eggs.

  02:10-02:12

  So we don't get the roosters.

  02:12-02:19

  But if you go to like Rural King or you go to Tractor Supply, they're sexed, which means they're all females.

  02:19-02:27

  Because look, I don't want to rooster, I don't know anything about incubating and all of that.

  02:27-02:30

  I don't, look, I just like scrambled eggs, all right?

  02:31-02:42

  So I don't know how to do all of, I barely understand how the whole thing works with humans, let alone chickens.

  02:43-02:44

  So like, we just want females.

  02:47-02:49

  Well, like I said, we're on our third flock.

  02:49-02:53

  And when you get them, they come as just these little puff balls.

  02:53-02:54

  They're adorable.

  02:54-02:56

  I mean, they're absolutely precious.

  02:57-03:00

  But like humans, they go through a really ugly stage.

  03:01-03:02

  You know what I'm talking about?

  03:03-03:06

  When, you know, their adolescent stage, they look like monsters.

  03:06-03:08

  They're all scraggly and nasty.

  03:08-03:11

  And you're like, are these diseased?

  03:11-03:12

  Like, are they going to make it?

  03:12-03:13

  And then they become chickens.

  03:14-03:15

  Oh, OK, it's beautiful.

  03:16-03:21

  And this group that we have now, since we got them when it was so cold, we kept them in the garage.

  03:21-03:26

  But now they're big enough, we transitioned them to be outside.

  03:30-03:37

  And one of the chicks in our batch stood out.

  03:38-03:45

  this one here because we noticed her comb was a little redder and that thing under her beak, what do you call that?

  03:46-03:47

  Is that the Wadler?

  03:48-03:49

  What do you call that thing?

  03:49-03:50

  That's what I guess what I call it.

  03:51-03:52

  Anyways, it was redder.

  03:52-03:53

  The other ones all looked identical.

  03:54-04:02

  You can't tell them apart, but she was like really standing out just in her appearance.

  04:02-04:09

  And then it was a couple of weekends ago And she was walking around the yard going, "Ahh!

  04:10-04:27

  Ahh!" And I'm like, "Huh, I didn't know hens did that." I thought maybe it got some scratch.

  04:28-04:29

  She got some scratch in her throat.

  04:31-04:33

  But no, no, she wasn't coughing up scratch.

  04:34-04:35

  It happened repeatedly.

  04:38-04:58

  And Erin goes, "I think we got a rooster." Well, last weekend, she reached down to change their water or their food or something, and the rooster pecked her hand.

  05:00-05:01

  And of course, I'm not going to stand for that.

  05:03-05:05

  I'm the king of my castle.

  05:07-05:10

  So I'm like, this insubordination will not be tolerated.

  05:12-05:13

  I'm like, I am doing something.

  05:13-05:15

  I am bringing swift vengeance.

  05:17-05:24

  And Erin said, she said, it was like in a chicken group on Facebook, you know, they group for everything.

  05:25-05:31

  She said, I read what you're supposed to do when a, you know, because roosters get mean, right?

  05:31-05:32

  They get mean.

  05:33-05:42

  I read what you're supposed to do is you're supposed to carry the rooster upside down in front of all the other chicks and chickens.

  05:42-05:46

  And that embarrasses him and kind of puts him in his place.

  05:49-05:50

  I'm like, so it shall be done.

  05:54-05:58

  But let's be honest, I couldn't catch the thing I tried.

  05:58-06:00

  I'm running around the coop.

  06:00-06:01

  Come back, chicken.

  06:01-06:02

  Come back. I couldn't catch the thing.

  06:03-06:11

  So I'm like, "Cade, get the rooster!" So Cade, he's way faster than me, he just walks up, he grabs the thing by the tail and picks it up.

  06:12-06:15

  So he's holding it. And I brought this as a representation.

  06:17-06:24

  This is a representation because they frown on live chickens in this establishment here.

  06:24-06:38

  So Cade's holding the chicken and I'm like, "All right, I'm going to do what Aaron said to do." and I took the rooster from Cade and I hung it upside down, and I walked around the coop.

  06:39-06:41

  I'm like, "I am your champion!

  06:43-06:50

  Everybody look! I'm in charge!" I sounded like some pathetic, washed-up has-been pro wrestler.

  06:51-07:16

  Like, "I'm in charge here! This is my castle!" the whole time just like, "What is he doing?" And I'm like, "You will not be disrespectful to the queen in my house!" And I don't know if that did any good, to be honest with you.

  07:17-07:21

  But I do know that that rooster lives in Erie now.

  07:24-07:25

  That's a true story, right Brian?

  07:26-07:31

  because Brian's in-laws have chickens and a lot of acreage, and they needed another rooster.

  07:31-07:39

  And we're like, "You can have Jean." She was G-E-A-N, and now he is G-E-N-E.

  07:43-07:45

  So what's the point of this story?

  07:46-07:47

  There's a lot of them.

  07:49-07:51

  But the question is, how in the world did we get a rooster?

  07:54-07:55

  Because at first you can't tell them apart.

  07:57-07:59

  They all kind of look and act the same to be honest with you.

  08:01-08:11

  And you know I thought about that chicken and those chickens and I said you know that's a lot like church.

  08:13-08:39

  church, this church, the church being addressed in the book of Hebrews. In the church there are true born-again followers of Jesus Christ and there are those who are not and like the like the chickens we can't always tell them apart because they're all kind of looking at the same.

  08:41-08:41

  Right?

  08:42-08:43

  This is every church.

  08:44-08:45

  There's people that attend.

  08:47-08:48

  And there's people that are even committed.

  08:48-08:54

  They might even serve in one of the ministries.

  08:54-09:00

  And they're super committed, but not to Christ.

  09:01-09:04

  That's like a superficial commitment, right?

  09:06-09:07

  Full of baby roosters.

  09:09-09:12

  Just haven't started crowing yet.

  09:13-09:15

  Whatever you call that noise they make.

  09:16-09:19

  I believe Jesus described this as wheat and tares, right?

  09:22-09:25

  Why do people come to church if they're not committed to Christ?

  09:25-09:27

  Why would they do that?

  09:28-09:30

  Their family makes them come.

  09:30-09:31

  They got friends here.

  09:32-09:37

  They feel guilty if they don't, or they feel useful if they do.

  09:37-09:39

  I don't know.

  09:41-09:50

  But eventually, eventually for those people who come but are not born again believers, eventually the novelty wears off.

  09:52-09:54

  And eventually the excitement wears off.

  09:55-09:58

  And it gets old and it fades and it's gone.

  10:00-10:01

  And they just walk away.

  10:01-10:06

  And that's really proof, as we've talked about before, it's proof that their faith was never real to begin with.

  10:09-10:23

  So to those in danger of doing this very thing, to those that are attending church, but they're not born again believers, they know all about Jesus, but they don't know Jesus.

  10:24-10:27

  What we have in this passage in Hebrews as a last call.

  10:28-10:30

  It's a final appeal.

  10:31-10:35

  And this passage reminds us that this is deadly serious.

  10:37-10:42

  This is probably the most terrifying passage in Scripture outside of the book of Revelation.

  10:44-10:46

  And here's the sermon. We're going to unpack it.

  10:48-10:48

  The sermon is this.

  10:49-10:52

  God can be the greatest friend you'll ever have.

  10:54-10:57

  or the most terrifying person you will ever face.

  10:59-11:19

  You see, we've been talking about this over and over, but when you come to church, and you're not a believer, and you just keep coming and sitting and hearing the message and knowing the gospel and understanding intellectually, but not embracing by faith, really what you're doing when you do that is you're saying no to Jesus.

  11:20-11:22

  You know you need to receive him by faith.

  11:22-11:27

  You know that you need to turn from your sin and believe in Jesus.

  11:27-11:29

  You know you need to do that.

  11:29-11:32

  And when you don't do that, you are saying no to Jesus.

  11:33-11:39

  And if that was if that was all that I could say about that, that's that's more than plenty.

  11:39-11:40

  But in this passage.

  11:42-11:46

  The Hebrew writer here is telling us what you're really saying.

  11:47-11:52

  When you say no to Jesus, so listen, I know it's like a trillion degrees in here.

  11:52-11:55

  and we are going to fix that and I am so sorry about that.

  11:55-11:58

  It's been an ongoing issue with the HVAC.

  11:58-12:05

  But listen, if you see the person beside you starting to like drift, you grab them and shake them.

  12:06-12:06

  All right?

  12:07-12:15

  Or better yet, grab them by the legs and carry them around and say, "You need to hear this "because you are not in charge.

  12:16-12:20

  "I am the champion." Sorry, it's just good to get the mouse.

  12:22-12:23

  Let's unpack it.

  12:23-12:25

  Here's what he's saying, church.

  12:27-12:31

  Those that are sitting here who haven't believed in Jesus, but you're a good church attender, you're saying no.

  12:32-12:34

  What you really say when you say no to Jesus.

  12:35-12:36

  This is what you're really saying.

  12:36-12:37

  Write this down first of all.

  12:37-12:39

  When you're saying no to Jesus, do you know what you're saying?

  12:39-12:42

  You're saying, "I prefer sin over Jesus." That's what you're saying.

  12:43-12:46

  "I prefer sin over Jesus." Look at verse 26.

  12:48-13:09

  It says, "For if we go on sinning deliberately, after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins." Okay, now the Greek tense here, sinning deliberately, it's not a single act, okay?

  13:10-13:19

  It's not like the normal stumbling of a Christian who's learning to walk by the Spirit, And that's not what he's talking about.

  13:20-13:22

  Nor is he talking about ignorance.

  13:25-13:26

  It's simply this.

  13:26-13:29

  You know what God's calling you to do.

  13:30-13:31

  And you haven't done it.

  13:33-13:37

  And you know the results of the choice.

  13:38-13:38

  You know it.

  13:39-13:40

  And you haven't done it.

  13:43-13:46

  What he's talking about here is taking a position of resistance.

  13:47-13:51

  It's refusing the command to turn from your sin and believe.

  13:51-13:52

  And by the way, it's a command.

  13:53-13:59

  Okay, sometimes in the American church, we want to package it a little softer.

  13:59-14:04

  You know, invite Jesus into your heart, which the Bible doesn't use that kind of terminology at all.

  14:04-14:06

  Actually, the gospel is a command.

  14:07-14:08

  God is commanding you.

  14:09-14:11

  Turn from your sin and receive my son.

  14:11-14:12

  It's a command.

  14:16-14:22

  But the problem, one of the problems we'll see here, when you say no to Jesus, He's saying, "Here's what you're saying, I'd rather have my sin.

  14:24-14:27

  I'd rather live my life the way I want.

  14:27-14:30

  I'd rather do what I want than what He wants.

  14:30-14:34

  That's what you're saying." He makes a chilling statement.

  14:34-14:35

  He makes a lot of them.

  14:35-14:35

  Here's one.

  14:36-14:44

  He says, "If you do go on sinning deliberately in this way," He says there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.

  14:46-14:47

  That's chilling.

  14:48-14:49

  You know what that means?

  14:50-14:51

  That means there's no plan B.

  14:52-14:53

  Okay?

  14:53-14:56

  God's not like, "Oh, you don't want my son.

  14:57-14:57

  Oh, okay.

  14:58-14:59

  Let me see what else I can offer you.

  15:00-15:06

  Let me see if there's another means by which we can take care of this rebellious sin problem." There is no plan B.

  15:07-15:09

  There's no other sacrifice for sins.

  15:09-15:17

  Jesus is the last sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice, the perfect sacrifice.

  15:17-15:18

  We spent months on this.

  15:18-15:27

  He is the high priest and he is the sacrifice and he accomplished the fulfillment of everything we saw in the law through his death and his resurrection.

  15:27-15:28

  There's no plan B.

  15:31-15:33

  There's nothing else that can take away your sin.

  15:34-15:36

  There's no one else that can take away your sin.

  15:37-15:44

  There is nothing that can make you right before God other than Jesus Christ and the work that He accomplished.

  15:47-15:57

  And that's where we run into a problem, you see, if you're a church attender but not a believer, because the Bible says Jesus takes away your sin, but you would rather keep your sin.

  15:58-15:59

  Do you see the problem?

  16:01-16:08

  And this is truly terrifying, but if you really want your sin, I mean, if you really want your sin, God will let you have it.

  16:09-16:11

  I was like, here, you want sin?

  16:16-16:24

  Tell me though, tell me though, how has, for those of you that would rather have your sin than Jesus, I'm just curious.

  16:25-16:26

  Tell me how your sin has blessed you.

  16:28-16:31

  Do we really have somebody that can stand up here and give testimony?

  16:32-16:47

  to say, "You know what? I have been committed to my sin, and let me tell you all of the ways that it has really just blessed my life and made me a better person." Is there anybody that can give such a testimony?

  16:49-17:01

  That's what you're saying when you say no to Jesus. You're saying, "I prefer sin over Jesus." Secondly, you're saying, "I'm willing to go to hell." Look at verse 27.

  17:04-17:10

  He's like, "There's no longer a sacrifice for sins." Right? If you reject Jesus.

  17:10-17:28

  He says, "But a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries." What you're saying when you say no to Jesus is I am willing to go to hell.

  17:30-17:35

  I've heard this so many times in sharing the gospel with people.

  17:36-17:51

  People say something like this, "I don't really mind going to hell because all my buddies will be there." And I'm like, where did you get your concept of hell?

  17:52-17:53

  Like a Tom and Jerry cartoon?

  17:54-17:55

  Is that what you think hell is?

  17:57-18:06

  Because if you really understood what the Bible says about hell, you wouldn't have such a foolish attitude towards it.

  18:09-18:15

  Because if we're going by the Bible, hell is described as outer darkness.

  18:16-18:19

  It's described as a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

  18:21-18:23

  It's described as a place of constant torment.

  18:25-18:28

  And here again, it's described as a place of fire.

  18:30-18:33

  And also I need to remind you, it's described as eternal.

  18:35-18:38

  And you know, there are people that want to do away with that.

  18:41-18:44

  Eventually you cease to exist, and hell's not really eternal.

  18:45-18:52

  There's a group that even in the evangelical church that would advocate for that, and that's just not true.

  18:53-18:54

  It's just not.

  18:55-19:08

  I'd like to remind you, the words of Jesus, Matthew 25, verse 46, says, and these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

  19:11-19:16

  In the Greek, the word eternal is the exact same word.

  19:16-19:23

  In other words, Jesus said that hell lasts just as long as heaven.

  19:25-19:28

  I've never met anybody that's like, "I believe heaven's temporary.

  19:28-19:34

  I believe you go there for a while and get rewards for a while, and then you cease to exist." I've never met that guy.

  19:35-19:36

  But people say that about hell.

  19:36-19:38

  Well, you go for a while, you get punished for a while, and then you cease to exist.

  19:39-19:41

  Jesus said hell lasts just as long as heaven.

  19:44-20:18

  eternal. That's why it says it's a fearful expectation. It's a it's a fury of fire that will consume like really that's where you're willing to go. You refuse the best thing that God could give you and you chose to receive the worst thing that God could give you. Not a great plan. But when you say no to Jesus that's really what you're saying. You're saying I'm willing to go to help. Number three, when you say no to Jesus, here's what you're really saying.

  20:19-20:21

  Jesus is nothing to me.

  20:24-20:31

  This is what you're saying in your rejection of Jesus. You know who he is.

  20:31-20:36

  You know what he's done, and still you will not come to him.

  20:38-20:40

  That's the crime of all time.

  20:41-20:47

  That is the crime of all time, to be sitting in church, and we've walked through so many passages of scripture over the years.

  20:48-20:56

  We've gone through John, and this year we've been going through Hebrews, to understand intellectually everything that Jesus is, and everything that he's done for you.

  21:00-21:17

  and to still say, "Well, yeah, I know what he is, but he's nothing to me." "Well, Pastor Jeff, you make it sound like this is a really heinous crime." Well, look what the Bible says.

  21:18-21:22

  Because the Hebrew writer here explains how heinous this crime is.

  21:23-21:31

  Okay, this isn't like saying, "No, thank you, I don't want a donut." This is the gift of eternal life.

  21:32-21:39

  God himself making provision for the sin that you committed against him.

  21:39-21:41

  That's what you're saying no to.

  21:41-21:44

  And he describes how heinous this crime really is.

  21:45-21:46

  First of all, you're spurning Jesus.

  21:47-21:48

  You're spurning Jesus.

  21:48-21:49

  Look at verse 28.

  21:51-22:09

  He says, "Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses, how much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God?

  22:12-22:14

  Spurned, that's not a word that we use very often.

  22:16-22:24

  Some translations say, "trampled underfoot the Son of God." That's the same concept.

  22:24-22:34

  You see, to God, when you say no to Jesus, to God, you're reacting to Jesus as if you were walking along your kitchen floor and you saw a stink bug.

  22:35-22:36

  And you're just like, "Ugh!

  22:37-22:37

  Ugh!

  22:37-22:48

  I hate those things!" You just refuse to allow Jesus the rightful place, His rightful place, to govern your life.

  22:50-22:51

  Nobody tells me what to do.

  22:54-22:55

  I live my life my way.

  22:57-22:58

  You're spurning Jesus.

  23:00-23:07

  And he says if someone's punished for disregarding laws that were written on stone, what do you think is going to happen?

  23:07-23:12

  How much worse punishment should someone receive when they so disregard the Son of God Himself?

  23:15-23:16

  You're spurning Jesus.

  23:17-23:20

  It's almost like you're disgusted by Him.

  23:22-23:24

  That's what you're saying when you say no to Jesus.

  23:25-23:28

  It's a horrible crime, you're spurning Jesus, let her be.

  23:28-23:29

  Why is it such a horrible crime?

  23:29-23:31

  Because you're profaning Jesus' blood.

  23:33-23:34

  Look at verse 29 again.

  23:37-23:46

  It says, "And has profaned the blood of the covenant by which He was sanctified, that being Jesus, right?

  23:47-23:48

  Jesus was sanctified.

  23:48-23:49

  He was set apart.

  23:49-23:56

  His blood established the new covenant, and he says when you say no to Jesus, you're profaning the blood.

  23:57-23:59

  Again, it's not a word we use very often.

  23:59-24:00

  What does profane mean?

  24:01-24:07

  Profane means to take something that God says is sacred and to treat it as ordinary.

  24:11-24:15

  It's like the ultimate devaluing of something.

  24:17-24:18

  That's what it means to profane.

  24:19-24:27

  You're like, "Well, how do I do that?" The number one way people do that is by insisting that your efforts to serve God ought to be accepted by Him.

  24:29-24:30

  In other words, religion.

  24:30-24:32

  That's how you profane the blood of Christ.

  24:33-24:40

  When God says, "Here, this is the blood that has been shed to take away your sins, to make you right before Me.

  24:40-24:42

  This is the work that has been done.

  24:43-24:48

  And you say, no, I'm going to trust in my religious works.

  24:49-24:54

  I'm going to trust in my merit and in my goodness and what I can do to earn my way.

  24:54-24:57

  We've spent so much time talking about this over the past few months.

  24:59-25:02

  God should accept me based on what I do.

  25:06-25:12

  When you say that, you're saying Jesus is nothing to me His blood really is nothing to me as well.

  25:14-25:16

  And let her see you're insulting the Holy Spirit.

  25:19-25:21

  What a heinous crime this is.

  25:21-25:23

  When you say Jesus is nothing to me, you're spurning Jesus.

  25:24-25:24

  You're profaning His blood.

  25:25-25:26

  You're also insulting the Holy Spirit.

  25:26-25:27

  Look at v. 29.

  25:28-25:33

  It says, "And has outraged the Spirit of grace." That's what He does.

  25:34-25:39

  Through the Word of God, the Spirit is calling you to receive Jesus Christ.

  25:39-25:42

  He's calling you to exalt Him in your life.

  25:43-25:46

  Recognize who He is and what He's done and turn and receive the Holy Spirit.

  25:47-25:48

  That's what He does.

  25:48-25:49

  That's what He does.

  25:50-25:56

  And you're just indifferent towards Him.

  25:58-25:59

  That's the outrage.

  26:00-26:05

  Because you see, indifference is the ultimate form of hate.

  26:09-26:11

  This is like, "Leave me alone.

  26:13-26:14

  I want nothing to do with you.

  26:15-26:20

  You are not a factor in my life at all." That's an insult.

  26:22-26:27

  You see, when the Holy Spirit is saying, "Hey, God loves you with an eternal love.

  26:27-26:32

  He sent His Son to die and to pay the penalty for your sin.

  26:32-26:34

  Come to Jesus Christ.

  26:35-26:47

  "Leave him!" And your response is, "Leave me alone." That's an insult.

  26:49-26:49

  Right?

  26:51-26:52

  What you really say when you say no to Jesus.

  26:54-26:54

  Well, here's one.

  26:54-26:59

  Number four, I'd rather face God as my judge than my Savior.

  27:04-27:20

  He says, "For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.' And again, the Lord will judge His people." He's quoting Deuteronomy 32, verses 35-36.

  27:23-27:42

  And then he says, verse 31, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." You know, by saying all of this, by refusing Christ, I could ask you, is that what you want on your record?

  27:43-27:44

  When you stand before God someday?

  27:47-27:50

  Oh, and you will, you will stand before God someday, by the way.

  27:52-27:55

  You will, as it says here, fall into His hands.

  27:57-27:58

  You realize no one's found a way around that.

  28:01-28:03

  You realize no one's found a way to escape death.

  28:04-28:05

  It's going to happen.

  28:07-28:08

  And he says we know him.

  28:09-28:16

  We know him who said, "I will repay." God will follow through on this.

  28:18-28:29

  And if you don't want to know him now as your Savior, the day's going to come that you're going to stand before him and know Him as your judge.

  28:33-28:39

  God can be the greatest friend you'll ever have, or the most terrifying person you'll ever face.

  28:40-28:44

  So right now, the room is in three categories.

  28:47-28:57

  There are believers right now who are praying that if there are church attenders here who haven't received Christ, there are believers that are praying that they received Jesus.

  28:59-28:59

  That's one category.

  29:02-29:05

  And also right now, there are unbelievers who are indifferent.

  29:07-29:09

  There are people that are like, "What is he blabbing about?

  29:10-29:10

  Is he done?

  29:10-29:12

  Is he going to talk about the stupid chicken again?

  29:13-29:14

  What are we having for lunch?

  29:14-29:34

  Oh, chicken sounds good." Like there's those people that like, "This isn't affecting you at all." There are people that are sitting here or watching this that are going, "Oh my gosh, I think that's me.

  29:37-29:38

  What if that is me?

  29:40-29:41

  Have I done this?

  29:44-29:46

  How do I know I haven't done what he's talking about?

  29:47-29:58

  How do I know that I really believe?" third category of people, that's especially who I want to talk to for a few minutes.

  30:00-30:29

  Because here it is, listen, the ultimate subjective test of faith, the ultimate proof of faith is not church involvement, it's not the day you were baptized, or you know, it's not some bedazzling testimony that you have, that's not the real proof of faith. You know, biblically what the proof of faith is, it's perseverance, it's endurance.

  30:31-30:54

  That's why Jesus said in Matthew 24, 13, "But the one who endures to the end will be saved." Jesus wasn't saying, "Hang in there and hopefully if you cross the finish line, you'll get to go to heaven." He's saying the evidence of true saving faith is the one who endures to the end.

  30:55-31:06

  So you know when someone makes a profession of faith, you know we have this baptism service coming up, and you can have a new believer baptized, and somebody could come to me and say, "Pastor Jeff, do you think he's sincere?

  31:07-31:12

  Do you think he's for real?" It's always the same answer.

  31:14-31:14

  We'll find out.

  31:16-31:16

  We'll find out.

  31:19-31:21

  Because perseverance is the proof.

  31:23-31:34

  As a good friend of mine always used to say, "Truth and time go hand in hand." And saved people show that they're saved, they prove it by enduring.

  31:36-31:38

  So I'm going to close you with this here.

  31:39-31:42

  I don't think I really believe now what.

  31:43-31:45

  That's the group I want to talk to as we close.

  31:46-31:48

  I don't think I really believe now what?

  31:49-31:52

  Two things, first of all, big letter A, he says look back.

  31:53-31:55

  Remember your initial passion.

  31:56-31:58

  Look at verse 32 through 34.

  31:58-32:06

  He says, "But recall the former days, when after you were enlightened," you see that?

  32:06-32:08

  He doesn't say saved, enlightened.

  32:08-32:09

  We talked about this before.

  32:10-32:12

  You learned the facts of the gospel.

  32:13-32:14

  You knew what was going on here, okay?

  32:15-32:27

  you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction and sometimes being partners with those so treated.

  32:29-32:40

  You had compassion on those in prison and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

  32:42-32:49

  He basically, to paraphrase, he goes, "Do you remember when you first came to church and you suffered along with the rest of us?

  32:51-32:54

  Remember when you first came to church and you're like, 'There's something real here.

  32:57-33:04

  There's this spiritual war on God's people, and I'm with this group of people, and I see there's something bigger going on.

  33:06-33:16

  There's something bigger than myself.'" And he says, "You were happy to stand and face it." If you've been in church for a while, you see this all the time.

  33:17-33:21

  People come and they jump in and they're so excited on the front end.

  33:22-33:23

  Like, "I wanna be a part of this.

  33:23-33:27

  "I wanna stand with this family." And that's his implication here.

  33:27-33:30

  Obviously, you're tempted to bail on the church.

  33:30-33:32

  You're tempted to bail on the kingdom.

  33:33-33:43

  You're tempted to bail on the mission because you don't have the supernatural perseverance that Jesus gives all believers because you truly haven't been born again.

  33:45-33:47

  You understand what that means?

  33:48-33:52

  Let's bring it to this church, because there are people here in the same boat.

  33:54-34:09

  This COVID and surrounding issues over the past couple of years have made you realize how corrupt the government is, and how panicked and cowardly and divisive culture has become over many issues.

  34:11-34:17

  You've been watching this bizarre sexual revolution happening.

  34:18-34:21

  You recognize there's an obvious spiritual war.

  34:24-34:27

  You come into a place like this and you're emotionally fired up at first.

  34:28-34:31

  Like, "I want to stand with these people.

  34:33-34:33

  They're bold.

  34:33-34:41

  They stand for something." But through this, you've committed yourself to the church, but not to Christ.

  34:42-34:44

  When that happens, you're going to run out of steam.

  34:45-35:00

  What he's saying here is, first of all, listen, if that's you, if you're a church attender and not a Christian, he goes, you need to recapture that initial enthusiasm and let that bring you to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

  35:02-35:04

  The world isn't going to change, but you need to.

  35:06-35:06

  All right?

  35:07-35:13

  So remember that initial passion, and then, letter B, look ahead.

  35:13-35:15

  There's reward for the faithful.

  35:16-35:18

  Look at what, verse 35.

  35:19-35:27

  He says, "Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, "which has a great reward.

  35:29-35:47

  "For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised." He's saying, "Come to Christ. Come to Christ. He's worth it." And, He's promised to reward the faithful.

  35:48-35:50

  Listen, listen. Everybody look up here.

  35:50-35:57

  I promise you right now, there is nobody walking around heaven going, "This is it?

  35:58-36:10

  I thought it'd be bigger." I mean, it's okay, but you know, it seems like I endured a lot of stuff on the earth, and then payoff doesn't seem great.

  36:12-36:14

  That is not happening, okay?

  36:15-36:17

  Every day is just like,

  36:18-36:19

  (yells)

  36:21-36:24

  Every day is like that in heaven.

  36:25-36:25

  Why?

  36:26-36:28

  Because Christ has promised to reward the faithful.

  36:29-36:30

  Look at verse 37.

  36:31-36:41

  He says, "For yet a little while, "and the coming one will come and will not delay, "but my righteous one shall live by faith.

  36:42-36:48

  "And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him." That's a quote from Habakkuk chapter two, verses three and four.

  36:50-36:53

  And what he's doing here is just putting a bow on the warning.

  36:54-36:57

  He says, "Listen, Christ is coming back.

  36:58-37:06

  So you need to live by true enduring faith because look, God doesn't delight in people who wuss out.

  37:08-37:14

  Right? That's what he's saying. That doesn't fire God up at all. Like really? You bailed? You didn't think I was worth it?

  37:14-37:20

  You didn't think I could provide the strength and courage that you need to endure? Like you just bailed?

  37:21-37:25

  God doesn't have the time of day for people that wuss out. Because true saving faith doesn't do that.

  37:27-37:28

  And finally, look at verse 39.

  37:28-37:29

  One more call.

  37:29-37:29

  One more.

  37:30-37:30

  One more.

  37:31-37:33

  He says, I love this.

  37:33-37:41

  He says, but we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

  37:42-37:43

  I love that because it's like this.

  37:44-37:46

  It's like this pep rally at the end.

  37:46-37:48

  He just said some very hard things.

  37:49-37:51

  And he's like, but that's not who we are.

  37:52-37:55

  Like, we're not scared like the world.

  37:56-37:59

  We don't live in fear like the world.

  37:59-38:00

  We don't do that.

  38:00-38:02

  That's just not that's not who we are.

  38:03-38:07

  We are people who believe and are saying that's who we are.

  38:08-38:10

  And again, there it is shrinking back again.

  38:10-38:11

  That's the evidence.

  38:12-38:16

  No man who draws back has saving faith.

  38:16-38:17

  Ultimately, they are destroyed.

  38:18-38:22

  But true, true saving faith endures.

  38:22-38:24

  And he says it preserves the soul.

  38:24-38:26

  And you're like, "Well, Pastor Jeff, what is faith?

  38:26-38:27

  "And what does that look like?

  38:28-38:29

  "What's it smell like?

  38:29-38:31

  "And how does it show up in my life?" And how...

  38:32-38:34

  Well, he gets into that in chapter 11.

  38:36-38:38

  So we'll get to that next week.

  38:40-38:44

  Today, churchgoers that are not saved, listen, there's reward for the faithful.

  38:45-38:46

  It's gonna be so worth it.

  38:47-38:48

  I can't even tell you.

  38:49-38:51

  If our worship team would make their way forward.

  38:53-38:55

  A couple weeks ago I saw a meme.

  38:56-38:58

  I'm a bit of an over-thinker sometimes.

  38:59-39:00

  But it said this.

  39:01-39:11

  It said, "If the living knew what the dead knew, the whole world would follow Jesus." If the living knew what the dead knew, the whole world would follow Jesus.

  39:13-39:14

  I thought a lot about that.

  39:15-39:16

  Maybe I'm nitpicking.

  39:17-39:17

  Do you know what I thought?

  39:18-39:19

  You know what I thought, Dan.

  39:19-39:23

  I'm like, "But we do know." Don't we?

  39:25-39:26

  Didn't God write it all down?

  39:27-39:28

  Number one bestseller?

  39:28-39:30

  Put it in the hotel room nightstand drawers.

  39:31-39:32

  I'm like, but we do know.

  39:33-39:34

  So you know what I thought?

  39:34-39:35

  I thought I'm gonna fix that.

  39:36-39:41

  'Cause everybody likes when their grammar's corrected or their meme is corrected, right?

  39:41-39:44

  I said, maybe it should say this instead.

  39:45-39:48

  Maybe it should say experienced.

  39:49-40:20

  If the living experienced what the dead experienced, whole world would follow Jesus. I thought that's better. Imagine this, just imagine this. Imagine I had the power, the ability, I don't, but imagine I had the ability, I could send you to hell for 24 hours. Just 24 hours. And then you come back. And then I can send you to heaven for 24 hours. What do you think that would do to you?

  40:22-40:24

  How do you think that would motivate you?

  40:25-40:26

  Regardless, this is real life.

  40:28-40:30

  And someday you will stand before God.

  40:32-40:33

  And I just want to leave this in your lap.

  40:33-40:35

  What are you going to say to Him on that day?

  40:37-40:41

  Are you going to say, you know what God, I can't lie to you.

  40:41-40:42

  I can't blow smoke.

  40:43-40:43

  You know everything God.

  40:43-40:46

  You know Jesus meant nothing to me.

  40:47-40:48

  Because God, look at my life.

  40:49-40:54

  Can you see that Jesus had zero impact on any decision that I made?

  40:56-40:59

  He had zero impact on any dollar that I spent.

  41:00-41:04

  He had zero impact on my attitudes or the way I love people or the way I forget.

  41:04-41:07

  You can see in my life, God, Jesus had zero impact.

  41:07-41:09

  He meant nothing to me.

  41:10-41:17

  God can be the greatest friend you ever have or the most terrifying person.

  41:19-41:20

  will ever face.

  41:21-41:25

  And the difference is what you do with Jesus Christ.

  41:26-41:28

  You bow your heads with me please.

  41:28-41:32

  Father in heaven, there's really no middle ground is there?

  41:33-41:47

  Your word is very clear that we have a choice that we can know you as a loving father, a provider, a guide, a counselor, a comforter, a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

  41:49-41:52

  Your word has made that so clear, God, that we can know you.

  41:55-41:59

  Have a relationship so intimate that your spirit would live inside us.

  42:00-42:04

  We can know you on that level because of what Jesus accomplished.

  42:04-42:12

  But Father, your word tells us, as we've seen today, that if we refuse this gift, it's a heinous crime.

  42:14-42:17

  It's an insult to the Holy One of the universe.

  42:18-42:21

  And we can't possibly expect anything good to come from that.

  42:22-42:27

  So Father, I just want to pray one thing very specifically.

  42:28-42:37

  That if the churchgoers here right now, watching this stream or sitting in this room, Your Word tells us it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

  42:37-42:42

  I pray that You would give them not a minute's rest, not a minute's sleep.

  42:44-42:48

  could enter their hearts or minds except that very thought.

  42:51-42:56

  Until they fall on their face and cry out and receive the gift that you have commanded.

  42:58-43:08

  That these people would not rest until they call me or one of our elders or their small group leader or somebody they know who knows Jesus, but they wouldn't rest.

  43:09-43:14

  Because it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

  43:15-43:24

  Father, thank you, not only for your awesome love, but thank you for this morning, because some of us need to hear this.

  43:25-43:26

  We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Hebrews 10:26-39

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. How can you tell if someone is a “church-goer” or a true born-again believer? Should you do anything if you think someone is the former?
   

3. Reread Hebrews 10:39. What is the evidence that someone is not saved?
   

4. What does it mean to “profane the blood of the covenant” (Heb 10:29)? How does someone do this?

Breakout
Pray for those in the church who have not come to Jesus.

Why Jesus? Because He Gives Us Confidence

Introduction:

Because of My Confidence in Jesus... (Hebrews 10:19-25):

1. I can Draw Near to Him in Faith . (Heb 10:19-22)
2. I can Hold Fast to His Word in Hope . (Heb 10:23)
3. I can Build Up His People in Love . (Heb 10:24-25)
   1. By stirring others up to Holy and Selfless Living . (Heb 10:24)

      Proverbs 27:17 - Iron sharpens iron and one man sharpens another.

   2. By refusing to Neglect My Church Family . (Heb 10:25a)
   3. By choosing to Be an Encourager Instead of a Critic . (Heb 10:25b)

      Proverbs 27:6 - Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  01:03-01:08

  It may come as a complete and utter shock to all of you, but I wasn't exactly a ladies man in middle school and high school.

  01:10-01:11

  I'm just as shocked as you are, right?

  01:12-01:16

  I would have crushes on girls, but they wouldn't have crushes on me.

  01:16-01:22

  I never once received a note from a girl in class or passed one of those notes with the check mark boxes.

  01:22-01:23

  You know what I'm talking about, right?

  01:23-01:24

  I have a picture for you if you don't remember that.

  01:25-01:27

  I like you a lot, do you like me back?

  01:27-01:29

  Yes, no, or the worst option, maybe.

  01:31-01:35

  I just always assumed the answer was gonna be no, so I just saved myself some time and paper.

  01:36-01:39

  My main issue was confidence.

  01:39-01:46

  I wasn't confident in who I was, I wasn't confident in my ability to talk to a girl without putting my big foot in my mouth.

  01:47-01:49

  So I went into college without ever having a girlfriend.

  01:50-01:55

  Now looking back, I'm very thankful for that in retrospect, but didn't feel great at the time.

  01:55-02:00

  And during my junior year of college, where I met my wife Kate, and I liked her right off the bat.

  02:01-02:05

  But I wasn't confident in how she felt about me.

  02:06-02:10

  Thankfully, she texted my friend Billy and told him that she had a crush on me.

  02:11-02:14

  And like a good friend, he actually shared the text message with me and showed me.

  02:15-02:18

  And I'll never forget how I felt in that moment as long as I live.

  02:18-02:22

  I felt a huge rush of confidence.

  02:22-02:30

  I felt like Rocky Balboa in the first movie, he's ascending those steps with his arms up, or in Rocky Ford, he ascends the mountain, you know what I'm talking about, right?

  02:31-02:32

  Drago, Drago!

  02:33-02:38

  Maybe not that intense, but I still felt a sense of confidence.

  02:38-02:45

  And I felt in that moment, I can actually ask her out on a date, I can actually talk to her, I can do this.

  02:47-02:49

  You ever had a moment like that in your life?

  02:50-02:56

  That eye of the tiger moment when you realize I can actually do something that I never thought I could do before.

  02:57-03:09

  Maybe it had to do with a romantic situation like me, or maybe it had to do with a huge project at work that you never thought you could accomplish on your own, but someone swooped in at the last minute to offer you the assistance that you needed.

  03:09-03:11

  You realize, I can do this, I can pull this off.

  03:12-03:15

  Or maybe you bit off more than you could chew with a household project.

  03:16-03:18

  And you're like, how am I ever gonna get this done?

  03:18-03:26

  But then, you find the exact right YouTube video to exactly what you need done, and you're filled with a rush of confidence.

  03:27-03:30

  In these moments you feel, I can do this, this is possible.

  03:32-03:44

  This morning I hope and pray that we are all filled with a similar confidence in regard to the Christian life, and living in obedience to who God has called us to be, and what he has called us to do.

  03:45-03:50

  To be clear, I'm not saying that you can do this on your own, in your own power, because you cannot.

  03:51-03:55

  I don't want you to be puffed up with a self-centered pride in yourself and your own ability.

  03:55-03:59

  That's not gonna get you very far and you're gonna fall flat on your face.

  04:00-04:08

  Instead, I want you to be filled with a rock-solid confidence in Jesus Christ and what he has already done for you.

  04:08-04:10

  He lived the perfect life you couldn't live.

  04:11-04:15

  He died on the cross to save you from the power and penalty of sin.

  04:15-04:24

  He rose again to give you new life and he has given you the Holy Spirit to live within you, to empower you, to live the Christian life.

  04:25-04:33

  As followers of Christ, we shouldn't lead lives of prideful independence, but we also shouldn't lead lives of defeat either.

  04:34-04:45

  In Hebrews 10, verses 19 through 25, we are called to lead lives of confident obedience that are powered by the person and work of Jesus Christ.

  04:46-04:57

  Without Him, we can accomplish nothing of value, but with Him, we can accomplish awesome things for His glory, other people's good, and our own personal development.

  04:58-05:09

  So let's read the first few verses of our passage this morning and begin to unpack what confidence in Jesus can embolden us to think, to say, and to do.

  05:10-05:11

  Verses 19 through 22.

  05:12-05:23

  Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is through his flesh.

  05:24-05:39

  And since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

  05:40-05:46

  So we're outlining for this morning, because of my confidence in Jesus, I can draw near to him in faith.

  05:46-05:51

  I can draw near to him in faith.

  05:53-06:02

  You know, over the past two months or so, we've talked a lot about the tabernacle, the temple, and the reality that Jesus is the great and final high priest.

  06:02-06:05

  And if you've been here every single week, you might be thinking, "Okay, Pastor Taylor.

  06:05-06:07

  "Okay, Pastor Jeff, I get it, I get it.

  06:08-06:15

  "You don't need to keep repeating it over and over again." Well, the author of Hebrews repeats it over again, So obviously we need to hear it.

  06:16-06:25

  This is awesome and glorious truth that should have blow us away and draw us to our knees and worship every single time that we hear it.

  06:27-06:36

  As a refresher, there was a veil, there was a curtain in the tabernacle and later the temple that separated the holy place from the most holy place of the holy of holies.

  06:37-06:38

  And what was in the holy of holies?

  06:39-06:41

  The Ark of the Covenant.

  06:41-06:46

  And on the mercy seat of the Ark was where God's glory dwelled for years.

  06:47-06:53

  And once a year, the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat.

  06:54-07:01

  This thick curtain represented the massive divide between a holy God and imperfect humanity.

  07:02-07:05

  Sin bars us from a relationship with God.

  07:05-07:11

  And we need someone to go through that curtain in our place and on our behalf.

  07:12-07:17

  For years, it was the high priest who represented the people of Israel before their God.

  07:18-07:25

  But no matter how many times the various high priests went through that curtain, it still stayed up whenever they left.

  07:27-07:36

  But when Jesus Christ, the great and final high priest, died upon the cross, the heavy veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom.

  07:39-07:46

  As Jesus' flesh was torn apart, So was the dividing curtain that kept us from God.

  07:47-07:52

  The blood of animals allowed the high priest to go in quickly into the presence of God.

  07:52-08:02

  They need to make a hasty exit, while the perfect blood of Jesus permanently opened up the way for those who place their faith and trust in him.

  08:03-08:08

  The high priest had to pass through a cloth curtain to enter into the earthly holy of holies.

  08:09-08:17

  while we pass through the curtain of Jesus' torn flesh to enter into the heavenly holy of holies, into the presence of God forever.

  08:19-08:31

  That old way is dead, it's gone, but we're told in this passage that Jesus opened up a new and living way in himself that can never ever be closed.

  08:33-08:48

  In light of this, the author of Hebrews strongly urges us to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

  08:49-08:54

  The priests had to constantly wash themselves in the service of the tabernacle and the temple.

  08:54-08:58

  They would sprinkle animal blood on things as a sign of cleansing.

  08:58-09:03

  But this cleansing by water and by animal blood was symbolic and external.

  09:03-09:11

  It couldn't really solve the problem of our hearts, the problem of our sin, but the blood of Jesus poured out changes everything.

  09:12-09:17

  We have been sprinkled and washed clean from every sinful blemish.

  09:19-09:31

  Our distorted consciences that were bent towards Satan, sin, self, and shame have been righted and we are now new creations with new hearts, new affections, new desires.

  09:33-09:42

  All of these awesome truths should motivate us drawn near to God with full assurance, with full confidence, whenever and wherever.

  09:43-09:47

  Do you truly believe that God wants to hear from you?

  09:48-09:53

  Do you truly believe that God wants to show you amazing things in his word?

  09:53-09:54

  How about this?

  09:55-10:00

  Do you truly believe that God wants to help you when you struggle?

  10:00-10:01

  Do you really believe that?

  10:04-10:09

  You know, sometimes I'll carry out a chore at home, hoping that my wife will notice and give me husband points.

  10:10-10:13

  I'm not gonna raise your hand, husbands, to ask if you know what I'm talking about.

  10:13-10:16

  I don't wanna get you in trouble, so I'll jump on that grenade for you.

  10:16-10:16

  We all do it.

  10:17-10:23

  After I finish a chore, I'll present my work to my wife, where I'll get the thumbs up or the dreaded thumbs down.

  10:24-10:30

  And sometimes I don't do the exact chore in the way it's supposed to be done, and so Kate has to redo it, right?

  10:31-10:34

  She has to clean up my cleanup job.

  10:35-10:38

  I was thinking this past week, how often we try to do that with God.

  10:39-10:52

  We try to clean up his cleanup job by internally beating ourselves up, by trying to earn his approval, by trying to impress other people around us with our good deeds and our good behavior.

  10:55-11:03

  The difference between my cleanup jobs around the house and God's cleanup job of our hearts is that his work is immaculate and flawless.

  11:03-11:08

  It cannot be improved upon, it cannot be added to, it cannot be cleaned up.

  11:09-11:12

  What can we possibly add to what he has already done?

  11:14-11:20

  As Pastor Jeff has preached over the past two Sundays, we don't need to live in shame any longer.

  11:20-11:27

  We don't need to try to clean ourselves up so that we can go to God in prayer, go to him in his word, and spend time with his people on Sunday morning.

  11:28-11:30

  Please listen to me and get this.

  11:31-11:39

  If you are in Christ, then you are already clean and there is nothing, nothing you can do to change that.

  11:40-11:40

  Nothing.

  11:41-11:45

  Stop trying to clean up God's already perfect cleanup job.

  11:47-11:50

  I know all of us in this room struggle with that, myself included.

  11:51-11:54

  When you mess up, don't run away from God in shame.

  11:54-11:57

  Instead, run to him with confidence and assurance.

  11:58-12:05

  When you struggle with doubt and fear, don't keep these things bottled up, but bring them to God because he wants to help you.

  12:06-12:09

  When you feel alone, don't wallow in your isolation.

  12:10-12:19

  Instead, turn to your loving Father, turn to your big brother Jesus, and turn to the Holy Spirit who offers you limitless comfort and guidance.

  12:22-12:27

  Because of my confidence in Jesus, number two, I can hold fast to his word and hope.

  12:27-12:31

  I can hold fast to his word and hope.

  12:36-12:37

  Let's read verse 23 together.

  12:39-12:48

  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

  12:49-12:56

  You know, by God's providence, throughout the book of Hebrews, I keep getting assigned all the passages that have to do with holding fast.

  12:57-13:00

  I kept thinking, what am I gonna say about this that I haven't said before?

  13:01-13:05

  But then I was reminded by God, Taylor, I'm trying to teach you something right now.

  13:06-13:11

  I'm trying to remind you of something right now and God's doing the same exact thing for you.

  13:11-13:16

  We need these helpful reminders when life is brutally hard and we feel like giving up.

  13:18-13:25

  Do you ever just have those weeks where it feels like life is just getting gut shot after gut shot and you're not given a chance to actually catch your breath.

  13:26-13:35

  In these moments, we need to remember that we have an unbreakable hope that can never, ever be stolen away from us, that can never, ever be ruined by our enemy.

  13:37-13:44

  You'll notice in this verse that the motivation for holding fast to what we believe is confidence in our God, who is always faithful to us.

  13:45-13:47

  God has never broken one of his promises.

  13:48-13:50

  He's never gone back on what he said he would do.

  13:51-13:59

  God's not a dishonest used car salesman who sweet talks us with false promises, but then bails as soon as we sign the dotted line or stuck with a lemon.

  14:00-14:02

  That's not who he is.

  14:03-14:12

  Throughout the Bible, we are bombarded with example after example and historical account after historical account of the trustworthiness and faithfulness of God.

  14:13-14:17

  God promises to Noah that the flood will come.

  14:17-14:23

  And it took over 100 years for the flood to come, but it finally came.

  14:23-14:28

  Do you ever think Noah had a hard time over the course of those 120 years of, like, is this actually gonna happen?

  14:30-14:40

  Or as we talked about last month, God promised Abraham, when he's an old man, that his wife who couldn't give birth will one day give birth to a miracle child.

  14:41-14:47

  It took 25 years, and God still kept his promise.

  14:47-14:57

  He promised Moses that he would deliver his people from slavery in Egypt and he performed awesome miracles that no one had ever seen before to make this happen.

  14:58-15:05

  He promised his people a land to dwell in and success in their conquest.

  15:05-15:14

  And it took a long, long, long time because of their disobedience and sin, but God followed through on his word.

  15:16-15:22

  All throughout the New Testament, we see prophecy after prophecy that point forward to the coming Messiah.

  15:23-15:31

  And at the exact right time in human history, God sent his one and only son to fulfill every single last one.

  15:32-15:38

  If the Lord did all of that in the past, why wouldn't we think that he'll come through for us right now?

  15:39-15:45

  If God did all of that in the past, why would we think that he won't follow through on his promises in the future?

  15:46-15:48

  Our God is faithful even when we're faithless.

  15:49-15:53

  Our God is unwavering even when we constantly waver.

  15:54-15:59

  He holds fast to us, and he gives us the ability to hold fast to him.

  16:01-16:04

  Let's not be like a plastic bag that's blown around on a windy day.

  16:06-16:14

  Instead, let us be firmly rooted redwoods that will not waver in the midst of the storms of life and the winds of circumstance.

  16:15-16:20

  Because of what Jesus has done for you, you don't have to give yourself over to doubt.

  16:21-16:24

  You don't have to let anxiety and fear control you.

  16:24-16:31

  You can hold fast to the word and hope and with unswerving confidence because you serve a God who is forever faithful.

  16:33-16:38

  You know, this past week I was thinking a lot about my favorite part of the book, Pilgrim's Progress.

  16:38-16:41

  And Pilgrim's Progress is an allegory, it's a metaphor for the Christian life.

  16:41-16:45

  The main character, Christian, is traveling in this world to heaven.

  16:46-16:48

  He's traveling on this path of light.

  16:48-16:54

  And at one point he wanders off the path and he gets stuck in Doubting Castle by the giant of despair.

  16:54-16:56

  And the giant shows him all these bones.

  16:56-16:58

  Here are all the people who died before you.

  16:58-17:00

  You're never gonna make it out of here.

  17:01-17:05

  And he's stuck in this prison cell of despair and hopelessness.

  17:05-17:06

  And he doesn't feel like he can get out.

  17:08-17:13

  And then at one point he realizes, Wait, I've had the key of promise with me the entire time.

  17:14-17:16

  I can walk out of here whenever I want to.

  17:17-17:19

  And he unlocks the doors and he walks free.

  17:20-17:22

  If you're a follower of Christ, you can do that too.

  17:23-17:28

  Some of you right now are in that doubting castle and you're held slave by despair.

  17:28-17:30

  You don't have to do that anymore.

  17:31-17:38

  You can walk free and you can unlock those doors with the key of God's promises that he gives to us in his word.

  17:40-17:44

  You can walk free and hold fast to God's word and hope.

  17:46-17:51

  Finally, because of my confidence in Jesus, I can build up his people in love.

  17:52-17:55

  I can build up his people in love.

  18:00-18:10

  The author of Hebrews pivots a bit from focusing on our personal walk with the Lord to how our confidence in Christ should impact our relationships with other believers.

  18:11-18:18

  In verses 24 through 25, he has a lot to say about his church and our personal involvement in the local body of Christ.

  18:20-18:26

  You know, it's very popular in 2023 to say, I love Jesus, but I hate the church.

  18:27-18:32

  Who's ever heard someone said that, or maybe even said that yourself in the past?

  18:33-18:37

  There are many such reasons for hatred of the church, but let me list a few of the most popular ones.

  18:38-18:45

  First, many have had many horrible experiences at a church or multiple churches in the past.

  18:46-18:50

  They experienced emotional, spiritual, physical, or even sexual abuse.

  18:51-18:55

  A leader or many leaders failed them in a key way and traumatized them.

  18:57-19:06

  Maybe a church in their past was extremely legalistic and put unrealistic expectations upon them that held them captive and they never knew true freedom in Jesus Christ.

  19:08-19:12

  If any of these examples are a part of your story, my heart goes out to you.

  19:13-19:22

  I'm so sorry that you had to go through any of those experiences, but I am so thankful that you are here worshiping with God's people this morning.

  19:22-19:24

  Praise the Lord for that.

  19:26-19:30

  Secondly, many view the church as too hypocritical and flawed to be a part of.

  19:31-19:38

  You turn on the news, you go on YouTube, you see so many examples of pastoral moral failures or abuse of power.

  19:39-19:45

  So many people who call themselves Christians in the church are prone to backstabbing, gossip, being judgmental.

  19:45-19:49

  And people think, why would I put myself into a situation where I could be let down?

  19:50-19:54

  Why put myself in a situation where I'll be betrayed and hurt?

  19:55-19:55

  I'm not doing that.

  19:57-20:03

  Or thirdly, and to put it bluntly, a lot of people do not see the value in being a part of a church.

  20:04-20:09

  They think, well, I can read the Bible on my own, I have some Christian friends, I can just call them whenever I'm struggling.

  20:10-20:12

  What's the point in joining a church?

  20:14-20:17

  Well, the answers to these objections are the testimony of God's word.

  20:18-20:24

  You know, Pastor Jeff always points out to me, a massive chunk of the New Testament is written to churches and pastors of churches.

  20:24-20:26

  That's a pretty big hint, isn't it?

  20:27-20:35

  The Bible is so clear that Jesus loves his church, which is constantly referred to as his bride and his body.

  20:35-20:39

  Christ is the groom and head of the church.

  20:40-20:45

  Imagine if you told me, Taylor, you're a great guy, I really like you, I just can't stand your wife.

  20:45-20:47

  I don't wanna be around her for even one second.

  20:48-20:49

  I hope we can still be friends.

  20:51-20:53

  Let me ask you, will our friendship get very far?

  20:54-20:56

  Our future as buddies doesn't look great.

  20:57-21:03

  Or what if you said, Taylor, your head is okay, but I can't stand the sight of the rest of you.

  21:03-21:08

  So whenever we talk from now on, I'm just gonna hold my hand out so I can just see your head.

  21:10-21:12

  That's gonna make for a really awkward lunch, isn't it?

  21:13-21:15

  These are ridiculous examples, aren't they?

  21:15-21:27

  But how more ridiculous is it to say that you can love Jesus and want nothing to do with his bride that he loves with a love that is immeasurable and unfathomable.

  21:27-21:35

  It's even more ridiculous to assert that you can love Jesus but want nothing to do with his body that he sacrificed everything for.

  21:36-21:40

  Jesus suffered, he bled, and he died to build his church.

  21:41-21:49

  And as infinite wisdom, God has chosen to advance his kingdom, to spread the message of the gospel through the ministry of the local church.

  21:50-21:53

  Harvest, we're plan A, there is no plan B.

  21:54-21:57

  This is God's will for us.

  21:58-22:05

  In light of these scriptural realities, how can each and every one of us serve and build up the church in love?

  22:07-22:12

  Well, the author of Hebrews lists three different yet concrete ways in verses 24 through 25.

  22:13-22:14

  Let's read that together.

  22:15-22:29

  And let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

  22:30-22:33

  So how can I build up God's people in love?

  22:33-22:37

  Letter A, by stirring others up to holy and selfless living.

  22:40-22:43

  By stirring others up to holy and selfless living.

  22:45-22:47

  You know, Christianity is not a solo sport.

  22:48-22:51

  You're not meant to be a spiritual island unto yourself.

  22:52-22:58

  You cannot be who God has called you to do and do what he has called you to do on your own.

  22:59-23:05

  You need mature Christians pouring into you and you need to be pouring into them as well.

  23:06-23:09

  Solomon speaks this in Proverbs 27, 17.

  23:09-23:13

  Iron sharpens iron and one man sharpens another.

  23:15-23:23

  You will be a dull blade in God's armory if you don't allow other people to sharpen you, and if you don't sharpen them in return.

  23:24-23:33

  One of the greatest ways to accomplish this mutual sharpening is stirring one another's up to good works, as we're told in verse 24.

  23:33-23:37

  And the Greek word for stir up can also be translated as provoke.

  23:38-23:42

  And very often it's used in a negative way to provoke someone to anger and annoyance.

  23:43-23:46

  But he turns that word on its head He uses it in the positive.

  23:46-23:55

  And he's saying, hey, instead of being someone who provokes others to being annoyed and angry, be a person who provokes other people to be godly.

  23:57-23:58

  Is that a description of you?

  23:59-24:02

  Is that a description of me?

  24:03-24:06

  I don't know about you, but it's so easy to be focused on myself.

  24:07-24:09

  It's so easy to be focused on my schedule and I want.

  24:10-24:13

  It takes no time and attention to be selfish.

  24:14-24:17

  It takes intentionality and accountability to be selfless.

  24:18-24:24

  We need to constantly remind each other to take our eyes off of ourselves and glue them onto Jesus.

  24:25-24:33

  We need to constantly provoke each other to be godly, to provoke each other to do what God has called us to do.

  24:35-24:40

  So throughout this upcoming week, think of ways that you can stir others up to love and good works.

  24:41-24:50

  Maybe this involves being in your small group encouraging each other and sharing names of people in your life that you need to be praying for, encouraging and sharing the gospel with.

  24:50-24:58

  Check in with each other about these people and be praying for them constantly and asking for those doors of opportunity that you can walk through.

  24:59-25:04

  Speaking of small groups, you can have times where you discuss how you can serve the community outside these church walls.

  25:05-25:11

  Maybe you have a passion for a particular ministry or people and God's calling you, hey, spearhead that.

  25:12-25:15

  Talk to your small group leader and form a service project.

  25:15-25:18

  That's a way to stir one another up to love and good works.

  25:19-25:23

  Or maybe you need someone in this church who's a close friend to keep you accountable.

  25:24-25:33

  You know God's calling you to be an ambassador for Christ in your neighborhood and where you work, but it's so easy to forget, and you need a friend calling you, texting you helpful scriptures and reminders.

  25:36-25:39

  We need to be doing this together, or we're not gonna do it at all.

  25:40-25:43

  Let us serve the Lord as one body.

  25:44-25:48

  Secondly, how can I build up God's people in love?

  25:48-25:51

  By refusing to neglect my church family.

  25:51-25:54

  By refusing to neglect my church family.

  25:59-26:05

  The writer of this epistle goes on to say that we shouldn't neglect to meet together as is the habit of some.

  26:06-26:08

  So church absence isn't a new trend.

  26:09-26:10

  It's gone back to the very beginning.

  26:11-26:14

  Many scholars debate over why there were some who were neglecting to me.

  26:15-26:16

  We have to remember the context.

  26:16-26:18

  This letter is written to Jewish Christians.

  26:19-26:27

  Maybe some of them were having a hard time getting out of that mode of going to synagogue on Saturday to transitioning to worshiping with God's people on Sunday.

  26:27-26:32

  They were worried about being cast out by their family and their friends and losing their status.

  26:33-26:36

  Intense persecution was happening to Christians at this time.

  26:36-26:42

  So maybe there were some who were worried, If I go to gather with those people, I might be imprisoned.

  26:43-26:45

  I might be put to death.

  26:46-26:54

  Whatever the reasons may be, there were people in the early church who made an intentional choice not to gather with other believers.

  26:54-26:59

  They made a choice not to worship and to fellowship and take part in the Lord's Supper.

  27:00-27:06

  They didn't just miss a few gatherings here and there, but this was a consistent habit that they gave themselves over to.

  27:06-27:12

  They chose to value safety and comfort and status over obedience to God's word.

  27:13-27:18

  You know, we live in a day of extreme business when there are a million different things vying for our attention.

  27:19-27:24

  And more often than not, it's not bad and sinful things, but good and beneficial things.

  27:25-27:26

  Work can be really stressful.

  27:26-27:29

  Maybe you have a lot of deadlines right now and you feel very crushed by.

  27:30-27:39

  The older your kids get, the more stuff they sign up for, dance, extracurriculars, musicals, sports, and that affects your schedule big time.

  27:41-27:47

  If you're not careful, dedication to your church family can be squeezed out and taken off the list of priorities.

  27:48-27:51

  To be clear, I'm not saying you can never miss a Sunday.

  27:52-27:54

  I'm not saying you should feel guilt-ridden whenever you go on vacation.

  27:55-27:56

  I don't want you to feel that way.

  27:57-27:58

  There are times where life gets in the way.

  27:59-28:03

  Maybe you have elderly parents that you need to take care of and it takes up a lot of your time and attention.

  28:05-28:07

  Maybe you have a job that takes you around the country for travel.

  28:08-28:11

  Maybe you're dealing with an illness in your family or in your own body.

  28:12-28:19

  I don't want you to view church attendance as a legalistic task that increases or decreases God's love for you.

  28:19-28:30

  But I do want you to firmly believe that it is honoring to God and nourishing to your soul to be around his people on a consistent basis.

  28:31-28:49

  It is vital for your spiritual health to be in fellowship with other Christians, to sit under biblical preaching, to worship the Lord, to offer up prayers to Him in a corporate setting, to take part in the Lord's Supper, and to witness the baptism to those who have given their lives to Christ.

  28:49-28:52

  What we do on Sunday morning is not a helpful seminar.

  28:53-28:54

  It's not an exciting pep rally.

  28:55-28:57

  This is a biblically commanded time.

  28:57-29:06

  We come together in unity with one heart, one mind, one voice to worship Almighty God and the Savior of our souls.

  29:06-29:08

  This is a God-ordained time.

  29:08-29:17

  We come together around the truths of the word to be encouraged, to be challenged, to be convicted, to be equipped to do the work of the ministry.

  29:19-29:28

  As great as sleeping in, playing a round of golf, or hiking on a Sunday morning may feel, these things are not substitutes for gathering with God's people.

  29:29-29:35

  These things cannot give you the blessing and the rest that is found in a room like this.

  29:38-29:42

  Now some of you may be thinking right now, well I'm doing pretty good, I barely ever miss a Sunday, so I'm all good.

  29:43-29:45

  Well don't pat yourself on the back too hard just yet.

  29:46-29:49

  The goal isn't just consistent attendance.

  29:49-29:52

  The goal is intentional presence.

  29:53-29:54

  Let me say that again.

  29:55-29:57

  The goal isn't just consistent attendance.

  29:57-30:00

  The goal is intentional presence.

  30:01-30:05

  You can be here in a seat right now, but not really be here.

  30:06-30:13

  You can sing to the Lord, you can sing a song, but not really think about what you're singing, or really think about the one that you're singing to.

  30:14-30:24

  A sermon can go in one ear, and quickly exit out the other, instead of taking root in your mind, migrating down to your heart, and changing how you live.

  30:26-30:30

  You can show up to small group every single week, but not really be there and not truly engage.

  30:31-30:35

  You can serve in the AV booth, on the hospitality team, with the kids.

  30:35-30:40

  You can be physically present, but not truly be present because your heart's not really in it.

  30:41-30:47

  When we gather together, the Lord wants us to be fully engaged and dialed in.

  30:47-30:50

  He wants our minds to be attentive.

  30:50-30:52

  He wants our hearts to be receptive.

  30:53-30:55

  He wants our hands and feet to be ready to serve.

  30:56-30:58

  The goal is intentional presence.

  31:00-31:03

  Finally, how can I build up God's people?

  31:04-31:05

  This is a big one.

  31:05-31:08

  By choosing to be an encourager instead of a critic.

  31:09-31:12

  By choosing to be an encourager instead of a critic.

  31:15-31:21

  So the author of Hebrews wraps up by telling us to encourage one another and all the more as the day is drawing near.

  31:23-31:32

  In other words, Jesus is coming soon So stop wasting time on being a critic who tears down and choose to be an encourager who builds up.

  31:33-31:41

  I'm not saying that we just tell each other light and fluffy things and make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, that we stroke each other's egos and make each other feel great.

  31:43-31:59

  Going back to the book of Proverbs, in Proverbs 27, six, we are told, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend "and profuse are the kisses of an enemy." You can tear someone down by telling them what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.

  32:01-32:08

  The word for encourage, this verse, can also be translated as exhort, which is urging someone to do something, urging someone to not do something.

  32:08-32:14

  Encouraging someone can include speaking compassionate and wise words into their heart.

  32:14-32:19

  It can also include urging them away from doing something that is destructive to them.

  32:20-32:24

  The purpose of encouragement is to strengthen someone and not to weaken them.

  32:26-32:30

  You see God at work in someone's life, so you call out that success and you speak the truth into them.

  32:31-32:35

  You see someone lacking in some way, you come alongside them and you train them, you equip them.

  32:36-32:42

  You see a believer living with a blind spot or living in sin, you come alongside them and graciously confront them.

  32:43-32:47

  And you offer them your help to mature and to grow.

  32:47-32:50

  These are the goals and methods of the encourager.

  32:51-32:57

  On the other end of the spectrum is the critic who enjoys pointing out the flaws in other people.

  32:58-33:01

  This is the person who loves to pick apart ministries that aren't perfect.

  33:01-33:07

  They love to send those really long, long, long, long emails.

  33:08-33:13

  Over the course of ministry, I've received many of those long, long, long emails.

  33:15-33:19

  They'll give you your scathing opinions, but they won't lift a finger to help you.

  33:19-33:23

  They won't lift a finger to make those changes that they call for.

  33:23-33:28

  A critic will happily call out your flaws, but they will do nothing to help you.

  33:28-33:32

  They will do nothing to help you mature and grow.

  33:32-33:37

  The goal of the critic is to build themselves up by tearing you down.

  33:40-33:44

  And that's not helpful for anybody, especially for the critic himself or herself.

  33:45-33:49

  By trying to build yourself up at the expense of others, you only seek to knock yourself down.

  33:51-33:52

  That was the way of the Pharisees.

  33:53-33:58

  They said horrible things to keep people down, while Jesus said hard things to raise them up.

  33:59-34:04

  That is the key difference, to strengthen and not to weaken.

  34:06-34:11

  I beg every single person in this room, please choose to be an encourager and not a critic.

  34:12-34:20

  Not just for the sake of your family, not just for the sake of your friends, Not just for the sake of this church, but for the sake of your own soul.

  34:20-34:26

  There is nothing more miserable than being a person who wants to build themselves up at the expense of others.

  34:27-34:28

  There is no joy in that.

  34:28-34:30

  There is no life in that.

  34:30-34:33

  If that's you this morning, please get out of that.

  34:34-34:35

  Ask the Lord for help.

  34:36-34:38

  I don't want that for your life and neither does God.

  34:39-34:44

  Choose to be like your Savior instead of like the Pharisees who opposed Him at every step.

  34:45-34:47

  The return of Jesus is drawing near.

  34:48-34:52

  Let's not waste any more time slinging mud and pushing each other down.

  34:52-34:59

  Instead, let's use this time to build each other up, to encourage each other and pull one another up.

  34:59-35:01

  Church, are we gonna dedicate ourselves to this?

  35:03-35:03

  Amen.

  35:05-35:12

  So as we close, let me remind us one final time that God wants us to be filled with confidence.

  35:13-35:19

  Not godly confidence, sorry, not worldly confidence, but godly confidence.

  35:19-35:20

  Listen to that one.

  35:21-35:28

  Not confidence in ourselves, in our own ability, in our own goodness, but confidence in Christ.

  35:30-35:32

  Confidence in his infinite ability.

  35:32-35:35

  Confidence in his perfect righteousness.

  35:36-35:41

  Because of Jesus and what he has done for us, we can now draw near to him in faith.

  35:41-35:46

  We can hold fast to his word and truth, and we can build one another up in love.

  35:47-35:52

  Let us choose to live in and out of the victory that has been purchased for us.

  35:53-35:53

  Let's pray.

  35:57-36:04

  Lord, we come to you and we thank you that you've given us so many helpful reminders in your word, Lord, when we get off track.

  36:05-36:11

  Lord, it's so easy to lead lives of prideful independence where we feel like we don't need anybody.

  36:13-36:18

  Or on the other end of the spectrum, Lord, to lead lives of powerless defeat, where we feel like we can't accomplish anything.

  36:19-36:30

  Where I pray we'd find that biblical healthy middle, where we find confidence in your Son and what he has done for us, Lord, that you have so many awesome works laid ahead of us that you want us to walk in.

  36:31-36:37

  Would help us to approach them with boldness and assurance and with excitement instead of shrinking back.

  36:40-36:45

  Lord, I pray that we would live in and out of that victory that you have given us.

  36:47-36:48

  In Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Hebrews 10:19-25

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. What are some examples of how the Lord has proven Himself trustworthy and faithful throughout Scripture? How has He proven Himself trustworthy and faithful in your own life?
   

3. How can we stir one another up to love and good works? How can we serve together as a small group?
   

4. What does intentional presence look like as you worship or serve on Sunday morning and participate in a small group?
   

5. How do you find yourself being a critic instead of an encourager? Who is the Lord calling you to specifically encourage right now?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Why Jesus? Because Once for All: We are Perfected

Introduction:

Why Didn't the Old Covenant Take Away Guilt? (Hebrews 10:1-4):

1. It wasn't Designed to. (Heb 10:1)
2. It Reminded you that you ARE Guilty. (Heb 10:2-4)

Once For All: Jesus Takes Away Your Guilt (Hebrews 10:1-18):

1. Once for all: You are Sanctified . (Heb 10:10)
2. Once for all: Your Sin is gone. (Heb 10:11-13)
3. Once for all: You are Secure . (Heb 10:14)
4. Once for all: You are Settled . (Heb 10:15-18)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  01:01-01:04

  Open up your Bibles with me please to Hebrews chapter 10.

  01:05-01:10

  And while we're turning, let's just pause and just sort of quiet our hearts before the Lord for a second.

  01:11-01:16

  And I'm gonna ask that you would pray for me to be faithful, to communicate his word.

  01:17-01:20

  And I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive it.

  01:20-01:21

  Let's pray.

  01:26-01:28

  Speak through your word today, Lord.

  01:30-01:32

  Give us ears to hear.

  01:33-01:34

  We pray in Jesus' name.

  01:36-01:50

  And all God's people said, "Amen." Today, we are going to talk about, we are going to talk about guilt.

  01:52-01:52

  Welcome to church.

  01:53-01:54

  (congregation laughing)

  01:56-01:57

  Hang on, you're gonna wanna hear this.

  01:59-02:01

  You're definitely gonna wanna hear this.

  02:02-02:02

  What is guilt?

  02:04-02:17

  The guilt is the sense that I am wrong, or the sense that I have done wrong in some way.

  02:19-02:21

  Let me tell you something else about guilt.

  02:22-02:25

  Guilt is an incredible motivator.

  02:27-02:29

  Like, well, how do you mean?

  02:29-02:32

  Well, here's how guilt motivates you.

  02:33-02:46

  Okay, you have what we're gonna call over here, your actual behavior, right?

  02:47-02:48

  This is your actual behavior.

  02:49-02:51

  This is what you actually do and say and think.

  02:51-03:07

  and your attitudes, but over here, we're gonna call this, let's just call this your, we'll call this your ideal behavior.

  03:09-03:16

  Like if you imagine yourself being a perfect person, that's what you aspire to.

  03:16-03:27

  This is what I think is right and optimal and ultimate And nobody lives that.

  03:28-03:31

  Whatever your ideal is, you don't even live according to your ideal, right?

  03:31-03:44

  So you could say that there's a gap between your actual behavior and your ideal behavior.

  03:48-03:50

  And do you know what you find in that gap?

  03:51-03:52

  That's guilt.

  03:56-04:07

  I feel guilty, you see, because I know I'm not this, so I feel guilty, so I've got to sort of do something to fill the gap.

  04:07-04:08

  Think about it.

  04:09-04:11

  We do this all the time, right?

  04:12-04:25

  Like, I've been sort of absent at home lately and I realize the kind of father I should be, but I haven't actually been that father, so I feel guilty.

  04:25-04:29

  So in order to stop feeling guilty, I'm like, "Hey kids, we're going to Kennywood.

  04:30-04:31

  "I'm trying to fill the gap, right?

  04:31-04:38

  "Or we do that in our marriages, married people." That you're like, "I realize I've been neglecting my wife.

  04:38-04:40

  "I haven't been the husband that I should.

  04:41-04:42

  Actually, I've been kind of a bum.

  04:43-04:46

  So there's a gap between who I am and who I should be.

  04:46-04:49

  So I try to take care of that guilt.

  04:49-04:59

  I try to fill the gap by doing things like buying her flowers or whatever.

  05:01-05:10

  So the problem, church, you probably know where I'm going with this, is we bring this mindset to the Lord.

  05:11-05:13

  We bring this mindset to church.

  05:14-05:17

  And we say things like, "Well, I know I'm not a good person.

  05:18-05:35

  "And I realized that there's a gap between who I am "and who I think God wants me to be." So what does guilt motivate us to do?

  05:36-05:38

  It motivates us to be religious.

  05:40-05:41

  That's where religion comes from.

  05:43-05:49

  What can I do to fill the gap before God between who I am and who I think, who I believe He wants me to be?

  05:49-05:51

  That is religion.

  05:54-05:57

  We've been talking about this through the book of Hebrews.

  05:57-05:59

  Religion doesn't work.

  06:00-06:10

  This effort to earn God's approval, this idea that I need to somehow get all of my good to outweigh my bad, and then God's happy with me.

  06:10-06:16

  Or the belief that I get to perform some sort of religious ritual to appease God.

  06:17-06:19

  Those things are not biblical anywhere.

  06:22-06:23

  But we all want it though.

  06:24-06:40

  And we all try to on some level, because we think it's inconceivable that my eternal soul is saved and I didn't do anything to contribute to that salvation.

  06:41-06:42

  That's inconceivable.

  06:46-06:52

  The reality is the only thing that you contributed to your salvation was what?

  06:52-06:57

  The sin that made it necessary, as has been said.

  07:00-07:01

  but we gotta do something.

  07:02-07:06

  I have to, in some way, contribute to the salvation of my soul.

  07:06-07:15

  And the problem with religion is it takes you on one of two paths, usually.

  07:16-07:21

  To fill this gap, one path that we go on is this.

  07:21-07:24

  Like, I gotta keep doing it because it's never enough.

  07:24-07:32

  I gotta keep saying the prayers and saying the chants, and I gotta keep lighting the candles doing the confessionals and doing communion.

  07:32-07:35

  I gotta keep doing whatever the religious work is.

  07:35-07:36

  I gotta keep doing it.

  07:37-07:40

  I did it last week, yeah, but it's a new week, so I gotta keep doing it.

  07:40-07:44

  I'm gonna have to keep doing it because there's a gap between who I am and who I think God wants me to be.

  07:45-07:46

  I gotta keep doing it.

  07:47-07:48

  It's never enough.

  07:51-07:54

  But there's another bad path that religion will take you on.

  07:55-08:01

  And that is the path that religion is all you need.

  08:02-08:10

  In the sense like this, your religion becomes a mindless ritual.

  08:12-08:15

  Like as long as I check the boxes, right?

  08:15-08:16

  Are you good with God?

  08:16-08:17

  Well, yeah, I'm good with God.

  08:17-08:18

  I went to church.

  08:18-08:19

  I said my prayers.

  08:20-08:21

  I lit the candle.

  08:21-08:22

  I did the chant.

  08:22-08:26

  I repeated the thing out of the book or whatever.

  08:27-08:29

  And so, yeah, I'm good with God.

  08:29-08:31

  And it becomes this mindless ritual.

  08:31-08:35

  As long as I check the boxes, I'm good with God.

  08:35-08:41

  You see, we've been going through the book of Hebrews, talking about the old covenant.

  08:41-08:45

  And in the old covenant, you had to offer a sacrifice through a priest.

  08:45-08:47

  And we talked about the day of atonement and all of that.

  08:48-08:50

  But you see the problem with Israel, and you're gonna see it in the text here in a minute.

  08:52-08:59

  Israel started getting into this mindset, it was as long as you do the work, as long as you offer the sacrifice, we're good, right?

  08:59-09:05

  I offered the sacrifice, I did it mostly how God said to do it, so God and I are good.

  09:07-09:10

  Did nothing for their heart, right?

  09:11-09:25

  It's like worship Baal for six days a week, and then we roll into the temple, we kill our animal, The etch-a-sketch is clean and we're good to go.

  09:26-09:27

  But there was no change in the heart.

  09:30-09:43

  And you're going to see here in the text that even the religious works that some people thought filled the gap, even the religious works that God ordained never took away the guilt.

  09:46-09:49

  So on your outline, Why didn't the old covenant take away guilt?

  09:52-09:55

  Write this down, first of all, letter A, jot this down.

  09:55-09:56

  Why didn't the old covenant take away guilt?

  09:56-09:57

  Well, it wasn't designed to.

  09:59-09:59

  That's a problem.

  10:00-10:03

  If you're thinking that it's going to take this away, it really wasn't designed.

  10:04-10:04

  Like, what do you mean by that?

  10:05-10:05

  Well, look at verse one.

  10:06-10:27

  It says, "For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come, Instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.

  10:29-10:29

  Stop there.

  10:30-10:31

  The Old Covenant was a shadow.

  10:33-10:36

  It was a portrait, but it was not the reality.

  10:39-10:45

  Show of hands, how many people are planning to host or attend a big Easter dinner today?

  10:45-10:46

  Show of hands.

  10:46-10:48

  Who's heading to a big Easter dinner?

  10:48-10:49

  Okay, most of you.

  10:51-11:11

  Well, how would you feel if you showed up to Easter dinner and you sit down and your host brings you a cookbook and says, "Here, I just want you to look through this." You're like, "What is this?" and look through it.

  11:11-11:14

  There are some delicious looking recipes in there.

  11:15-11:16

  And that's how you spend Easter.

  11:16-11:20

  You're just all sitting around the table, looking through the cookbook.

  11:22-11:24

  How many instead would rather eat a real meal?

  11:27-11:30

  And you see, that's the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant.

  11:31-11:34

  Now, listen, there's some value in reading a cookbook.

  11:35-11:36

  It's enlightening.

  11:38-11:42

  You get to see the ingredients that go into it and how it's all put together.

  11:42-11:44

  It's very enlightening to read a cookbook.

  11:45-11:45

  I'm gonna tell you something.

  11:46-11:50

  If all you ever do is read cookbooks, you're gonna die.

  11:52-11:52

  Right?

  11:53-11:57

  You're gonna sit there starving to death reading your little Betty Crocker cookbook.

  11:57-11:58

  Why?

  11:58-12:00

  Because that isn't meant to nourish you.

  12:01-12:03

  The real meal is what nourishes you.

  12:04-12:08

  That's the difference between the old covenant and the new.

  12:11-12:18

  But here's the question, as we get to this point in Hebrews, it's like, wait, wait, wait, why didn't the old covenant make people perfect?

  12:18-12:29

  It says here in verse one, "It can never are the same sacrifices "continually offered every year." Look, make perfect those who join you.

  12:29-12:30

  It could never do that.

  12:30-12:32

  You're like, why?

  12:36-12:58

  Okay, so maybe you're like me and you're sort of questioning the practicality of all of this, but why in the world, if the old covenant sacrifices, the killing of animals and sprinkling of blood and the priests and the temple, if that didn't fix the guilt and the sin problem, why did God have people doing that for so long?

  12:58-12:59

  For generations?

  12:59-13:01

  For the history of ancient Israel?

  13:01-13:10

  Why did God make them go through this exercise over and over and over and over if it really didn't solve the problem?

  13:10-13:11

  Has anybody else ever wondered that?

  13:13-13:14

  Well, here's why.

  13:17-13:22

  It's called, in theology terms, it's called progressive revelation.

  13:25-13:26

  Here's all that means.

  13:27-13:33

  You know the story, Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden, don't eat off the one tree, they disobeyed, brought sin into the world.

  13:33-13:34

  You know that story?

  13:38-13:52

  Well, after Adam and Eve sinned, your Bible doesn't say the next day, the day after their transgression, Jesus showed up and was crucified and took their sin away.

  13:53-13:56

  Why didn't Jesus just do that the day after they sinned?

  13:57-14:00

  Why did we get to go through all this old covenant business?

  14:03-14:06

  It's the same reason you don't give textbooks to babies.

  14:08-14:09

  That's why, right?

  14:10-14:16

  There's a lot of babies, little children in this church, and some of them are starting to learn how to read.

  14:17-14:19

  And how do you teach them, parents?

  14:20-14:21

  You gotta teach them the alphabet, right?

  14:22-14:26

  A, B, C, then you teach them simple words, cat, dog, ball, balloon.

  14:27-14:31

  And like we teach them these simple concepts and then we teach them sentences.

  14:31-14:33

  This is how a sentence goes together.

  14:33-14:40

  And then they start learning how to read paragraphs and books and do you realize that's the purpose of the old covenant?

  14:41-14:49

  That was God throughout history showing mankind through Israel, the ABCs.

  14:50-15:05

  Like through the old covenant, God was saying, "Look, you're a sinner, and it requires death, "but here in my grace, I'm going to allow a substitute." But, "You can't offer that substitute yourself.

  15:05-15:17

  "You need a priest to offer that on your behalf." You see, generation after generation after generation, God was teaching that lesson.

  15:18-15:19

  I am guilty of sin.

  15:20-15:23

  I need a blood sacrifice to pay the penalty.

  15:23-15:28

  I need a priest to offer that sacrifice over and over and over.

  15:28-15:31

  What it was doing was preparing the world for Jesus Christ.

  15:31-15:48

  So when Jesus shows up and he is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and he is the high priest who offers himself as the sacrifice, we're like, I get it now because God was painting the picture with the ABCs for generations through Israel.

  15:50-15:59

  That's why Jesus didn't show up the day after Adam and Eve sinned, to offer a sacrifice on the cross.

  16:00-16:03

  So the point is this, the old covenant wasn't designed to take away guilt.

  16:04-16:05

  It was a shadow.

  16:06-16:08

  But letter B, why didn't the old covenant take away guilt?

  16:08-16:09

  Write this down.

  16:10-16:12

  It reminded you that you are guilty.

  16:15-16:31

  Look at verse two, it says, "Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered since the worshipers having once been cleansed would no longer have any consciousness of sins." Stop there.

  16:31-16:39

  He's saying if they brought perfection, if these Old Testament sacrifices really made me right before God, they would have stopped, right?

  16:40-16:46

  Like if that's all it took, blood of a bull, blood of a goat, blood of a sheep, me and God are good, then they would have just stopped.

  16:47-16:49

  God's like, okay, we good, see you in heaven.

  16:52-16:56

  But no, it says, did you see that last phrase?

  16:56-17:00

  Consciousness of sins, consciousness of sins, what is that?

  17:01-17:03

  That says here, that's guilt.

  17:04-17:08

  That's the awareness that I did something wrong.

  17:08-17:15

  That guilt comes with sin and the Old Testament, the old covenant never relieved the guilt.

  17:17-17:17

  Like, why not?

  17:17-17:18

  Well, look at verse three.

  17:19-17:41

  It says, "But in these sacrifices, "there is a reminder of sins every year, "for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats "to take away sins." You see, those sacrifices not only didn't take away sin, it was a constant reminder that they didn't take away sin, right?

  17:42-17:43

  You know, think of it this way.

  17:46-17:51

  Let's say that you have a disease that will kill you.

  17:51-17:52

  You have a terminal disease.

  17:53-18:00

  And the doctor says, "Here, I want you to take this medicine." And you take the medicine and it eradicates your disease.

  18:00-18:01

  It's gone forever.

  18:01-18:04

  It's completely gone from your body.

  18:04-18:05

  You are healed, you are cured.

  18:07-18:15

  If that's the case, every time you see this, The medicine, you're gonna think, that's the thing that saved me, right?

  18:16-18:17

  This saved me.

  18:17-18:20

  But what if your disease isn't like that?

  18:21-18:28

  What if you have a disease that requires you to take medication every day just to live?

  18:29-18:30

  That it's never gonna go away.

  18:31-18:32

  It's never gonna be healed.

  18:33-18:38

  But you can keep living so long as you take your daily pill.

  18:39-18:44

  You see, then if that's the case, you wouldn't look at this as this is the thing that made me better.

  18:44-18:49

  You would look at this as your daily reminder, you're still sick, right?

  18:49-18:54

  Every day, I'm sick, I gotta take this or I'm gonna die.

  18:54-18:56

  That's all this does is remind you of that.

  18:56-18:59

  You see, that's what the Hebrew writer is saying about the old covenant sacrifices.

  19:00-19:08

  Every time they showed up the sacrifices, well, I'm a sinner, I'm rotten, I need the blood of an innocent substitute to take my place.

  19:08-19:13

  I'm a sinner and had to keep happening over and over and over and over.

  19:15-19:19

  Sacrifice didn't erase sin, it highlighted it.

  19:22-19:23

  So look at verse five.

  19:26-19:34

  It says, "Consequently, when Christ came into the world." Well, hang on there.

  19:35-19:40

  That, my friends, is what you call a game-changing statement.

  19:42-19:52

  When Christ came into the world, Jesus came to take away God's wrath.

  19:52-19:54

  He came to take away your sin.

  19:55-19:56

  And listen, here's what we're going to see in the text.

  19:57-20:01

  Jesus came to take away your guilt.

  20:05-20:14

  And this is one of the most profound quotes, not just in Hebrews, but in the whole Bible.

  20:14-20:18

  He's quoting here in a second, you're gonna see Psalm 40, verses six through eight.

  20:19-20:33

  And it's Jesus, it's God the Son speaking to God the Father but what's really profound about this is it's like, God the Son is standing on the edge of heaven right before the incarnation.

  20:34-20:39

  Like this is like last words the son says to the father face to face before he comes to the earth.

  20:40-20:41

  That's what's so profound about this.

  20:43-20:46

  Look at verses, the rest of verse five, let's get down to verse seven.

  20:46-20:50

  It says, this is Jesus speaking to God, the father before the incarnation.

  20:51-20:58

  Again, he says, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me?

  21:00-21:03

  and burnt offerings and sin offerings, you have taken no pleasure.

  21:03-21:10

  Then I said, behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.

  21:15-21:16

  Then he gives commentary.

  21:17-21:21

  The Hebrew writer, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives commentary on Psalm 40.

  21:21-21:22

  Look at verse eight.

  21:23-21:30

  He says, when he said above, you have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burn offerings and sin offerings.

  21:31-21:32

  These are offered according to the law.

  21:33-21:37

  Then he added, behold, I have come to do your will.

  21:40-21:47

  He does away with the first in order to establish the second.

  21:49-21:56

  See his point here is this quote from Psalm 40 was Jesus saying, I'm coming.

  21:58-22:00

  to institute something better.

  22:01-22:03

  I'm coming to establish something better.

  22:04-22:07

  The Old Testament sacrifices couldn't do it.

  22:07-22:12

  You gotta prepare a new body to do the real job.

  22:12-22:16

  And the real job of Jesus Christ was to be the true sacrifice.

  22:17-22:22

  The one that all of the old covenant sacrifices were only a shadow of.

  22:23-22:38

  And when you believe that Jesus Christ is that true sacrifice of God, then you can have assurance that once and for all, you're perfected and you're done with guilt.

  22:41-22:51

  See, back in chapter 14, or I'm sorry, chapter nine, verse 14, excuse me, we said the conscience is purified by the blood of Christ.

  22:52-22:52

  He made that comment.

  22:53-22:55

  and we had a whole message about that.

  22:55-23:05

  Your conscience is purified by the blood of Christ, that when you truly understand what the sacrifice of Jesus accomplished, it cleanses your conscience.

  23:05-23:20

  And at this point, he gets really specific about how the blood of Christ should purify your conscience by taking away your sense of guilt before God.

  23:22-23:22

  Are you ready for this?

  23:24-23:27

  Once for all, Jesus takes away your guilt.

  23:31-23:39

  Look, there's so many Christians walking around with this burden of guilt that isn't from God.

  23:40-23:41

  It's from the enemy.

  23:43-23:45

  And there's people in this room that are struggling with that.

  23:45-23:49

  There's people that are watching this stream that are struggling with that.

  23:49-23:50

  Would you like to be done with that today?

  23:51-23:54

  Would you like to be done walking around feeling guilty before God?

  23:55-23:56

  Would you like to be done with that?

  23:57-23:59

  All right, then let's see what this has to say.

  23:59-24:02

  Once and for all, Jesus takes away your guilt, number one.

  24:03-24:04

  Once for all, you are sanctified.

  24:06-24:07

  Look at verse 10.

  24:10-24:17

  He says, "And by that will," meaning Jesus Christ coming to do the will of the Father.

  24:18-24:36

  "And by that will," look at this, "We have been sanctified "through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ "once for all." Sanctified, what does that word mean?

  24:38-24:39

  It's another way of saying holy.

  24:40-24:41

  It's set apart.

  24:42-24:48

  It's, really it means put to proper use, right?

  24:49-24:53

  A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of sitting in with Dan Thompson and the youth group.

  24:53-24:57

  And Dan has a great illustration about sanctification.

  24:58-24:59

  Dan, can I steal this?

  25:01-25:06

  Please say yes, because if you say no, I don't know what, thank you, I didn't know what I was gonna do for this chunk of the sermon.

  25:06-25:09

  I should have talked to you before this.

  25:10-25:18

  But sanctification, like I said, we think of it as kind of a religious-y word, but really it just means that something has an intended use, right?

  25:19-25:23

  And the illustration that Dan uses is a toothbrush.

  25:25-25:30

  This has one intended use, doesn't it?

  25:32-25:36

  Now show of hands, how many people here would want to borrow this toothbrush from me?

  25:39-25:41

  No, this has an intended use.

  25:41-25:44

  This has one, this literally has one purpose.

  25:45-25:59

  So if I walked into the bathroom and saw Aaron scrubbing the toilet where the tank meets the bowl with this, this isn't sanctified anymore.

  26:01-26:05

  Trust me when I say she is using it for a purpose for which it was not intended.

  26:06-26:10

  This has one use, right?

  26:11-26:12

  One intended use.

  26:13-26:22

  And you see, that's what he's saying here is by the will of God accomplished by Christ, you have been sanctified.

  26:24-26:28

  Would I be taking the analogy too far to say you have become God's toothbrush?

  26:30-26:34

  But you know the sense in which I mean that, God says, no, no, no, you are mine.

  26:35-26:40

  And I have one purpose for you and I'm going to use you for that purpose.

  26:42-26:43

  And you're like, yeah, you know what?

  26:43-26:51

  I hear what you're saying, Pastor Jeff, but sometimes I mess up and I'm not sure that I'm, I'm not sure I'm doing that purpose.

  26:51-26:53

  Look at verse 10 again, please.

  26:54-27:03

  It says, "We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ." What are the last three words?

  27:04-27:05

  Come on, say it.

  27:07-27:09

  Yeah, God's not embarrassed to say it, why are we?

  27:09-27:12

  God says, "Once and for all, you are sanctified.

  27:13-27:19

  You belong to him and there is nothing that can change that if you truly belong to him.

  27:21-27:22

  Because he said it's once for all.

  27:23-27:25

  So once for all you are sanctified.

  27:28-27:31

  And this could be a whole sermon series, but I just gotta say this.

  27:34-27:36

  This so much ties into your identity.

  27:37-27:40

  So many people just struggle with identity issues.

  27:40-27:42

  Yeah, I'm just a worthless sinner.

  27:43-27:44

  I'm just a piece of garbage.

  27:46-27:47

  Not according to God.

  27:48-27:51

  According to God, you are a holy child of his.

  27:52-27:54

  You have been sanctified and set apart.

  27:54-27:59

  Christ made that happen because he took away your sin and he gave you his righteousness.

  28:00-28:02

  So once for all you are sanctified.

  28:02-28:05

  Number two, once for all your sin is gone.

  28:07-28:09

  Once for all your sin is gone.

  28:13-28:19

  Look at verse 11, it says, "But when," how about I look at the right chapter, would that help?

  28:20-28:25

  All in favor of me not reading chapter 9 like I almost did.

  28:27-28:28

  All right, where were we?

  28:28-28:29

  All right, verse 11.

  28:32-28:42

  It says, "And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

  28:44-28:54

  But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God." I think it's pretty obvious contrast here, right?

  28:55-28:59

  The old covenant priest standing, sacrificing daily.

  28:59-29:09

  Jesus Christ offered himself one time, finished the work and sat down.

  29:13-29:20

  You see, the old covenant didn't remove sin, it only covered sin.

  29:20-29:25

  So under the old covenant, sin was atoned for, it wasn't taken away.

  29:26-29:32

  And somebody right now might be like, Well, Jeff, you know, it sounds a bit like semantics to me.

  29:32-29:34

  Atonement, sin taken away.

  29:34-29:36

  Isn't it the same thing?

  29:37-29:40

  Isn't it the same thing to atone for sin and to take away sin?

  29:40-29:41

  Isn't that the same thing?

  29:44-29:57

  Well, imagine a raccoon on the last few moments of his life crawls onto our front porch and dies right on our welcome mat.

  29:59-30:10

  And Aaron would say, "Jeff, I need you to do something "about that raccoon." And I'm like, "I got it." And I go into the kitchen and I get a tea towel.

  30:12-30:16

  And I go out and I cover the raccoon with the tea towel.

  30:18-30:19

  Do you think that's what my wife wanted?

  30:22-30:24

  What's the problem, Stacy?

  30:24-30:25

  It's covered.

  30:25-30:26

  You can't see it.

  30:27-30:30

  Isn't that what she wanted?

  30:31-30:33

  No, what is she going to tell me to do?

  30:35-30:36

  Tell me, what's she gonna tell me to do?

  30:37-30:38

  Get it away.

  30:39-30:40

  Like where?

  30:40-30:41

  I don't care where.

  30:41-30:44

  Get the dead raccoon off of our porch.

  30:45-30:48

  Now do you understand the difference between covering and taking away?

  30:50-30:53

  The old covenant sacrifices, they covered your sin.

  30:54-30:59

  Jesus Christ takes away your sin.

  30:59-31:07

  That was the picture of the scapegoat on the day of atonement to show Israel that sin was symbolically driven away.

  31:07-31:11

  Jesus actually did take it away.

  31:12-31:21

  Like, yeah, that sounds well and good, Jeff, but you know not everybody's on board with this guilt-free living, with this understanding the blood of Christ.

  31:21-31:22

  Not everybody's on board.

  31:22-31:27

  In fact, there's some people against that, namely Satan.

  31:28-31:28

  Right?

  31:29-31:31

  The accuser of the brother, and he's a powerful adversary.

  31:32-31:33

  Like what about him?

  31:33-31:34

  What about him, Pastor Jeff?

  31:34-31:35

  Well, look at verse 13.

  31:36-31:48

  It says, "Jesus sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet." Like, well, what about Satan, Pastor Jeff?

  31:48-31:49

  What about?

  31:51-31:52

  Oh, you mean Jesus' footstool.

  31:53-31:55

  Is that who you're so worried about?

  31:57-32:05

  Hey, you do you, but I'm too busy trusting the victorious Christ than to worry about an Ottoman.

  32:08-32:10

  Don't give Satan too much attention.

  32:10-32:11

  Do you realize that's what we're celebrating today?

  32:13-32:25

  You realize Jesus showed up and Satan threw everything he had at him to the point that Jesus was publicly in the most humiliating way known to man executed.

  32:26-32:29

  Public shame, Jesus was executed.

  32:32-32:33

  And Satan was like, I won.

  32:35-32:37

  Jesus took everything Satan had to offer.

  32:41-32:43

  Three days later, he just walked right out of that grave.

  32:45-32:47

  So listen, this is from the Lord.

  32:48-32:51

  Satan got nothing.

  32:52-32:54

  Okay, so stop giving him attention.

  32:55-32:58

  There's too many Christians so worried about what Satan's doing.

  32:58-33:00

  Let's just worry about what Jesus is doing, right?

  33:00-33:01

  Let's get on board with him.

  33:07-33:08

  Your sin is gone.

  33:09-33:11

  Number three, once for all, you're secure.

  33:13-33:39

  Verse 14, It says, "For by a single offering, he has perfected for all time, those who are being sanctified." See under the old covenant, your sacrifice, your forgiveness of sin, your atonement for sin, I should say, it was only good until your next sin and then you had to sacrifice again, right?

  33:43-33:52

  You know, it's sort of like in some religions where you have to make confession to another person, and that's only good until you sin, then you gotta go do it again.

  33:54-33:55

  It just never ends.

  33:55-33:57

  That's how the old covenant was, by the way.

  34:00-34:02

  But Jesus' sacrifice perfected you.

  34:02-34:12

  It made you righteous in God's eyes for all time, and there's no way that a believer can lose this forever forgiveness, because it's not conditional.

  34:14-34:14

  It's pronounced.

  34:18-34:20

  Notice there's a contrast here.

  34:20-34:31

  In verse 10, we spent time talking about, "You have been sanctified." But look here, he's talking about, "You are being sanctified." You see that?

  34:32-34:36

  For by a single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

  34:36-34:37

  And you're like, "Well, wait a second, Jeff.

  34:37-34:42

  You just said, 'We have been.' So which is it?

  34:43-34:48

  Are we sanctified or are we in the process of being sanctified?

  34:48-34:49

  And the answer is yes.

  34:51-34:53

  Like, well, how does that work?

  34:53-34:54

  Well, it's kind of like the army.

  34:56-35:02

  When you enlist in the army, when you sign your enlistment papers, you are GI.

  35:03-35:04

  You are a soldier.

  35:05-35:06

  You're like, awesome.

  35:07-35:08

  So why are they sending me to bootcamp?

  35:11-35:15

  Why do I gotta go to all this training to make you a soldier?

  35:16-35:19

  You see, you are, and you're becoming.

  35:22-35:23

  And that's how it is with Jesus Christ.

  35:24-35:27

  God says, you are holy, you are perfect.

  35:29-35:41

  So your whole life, you are being sanctified, you are, by God's grace, by God's work, by his Holy Spirit, by his word, he is making you into the person that he's already pronounced you to be.

  35:45-35:48

  There's great security in that, right?

  35:48-35:54

  Kind of like if you were in the army and you woke up some morning and you said, you know what, I don't feel like a soldier today.

  35:57-35:59

  What do you think your commanding officer would say?

  36:01-36:02

  Oh, why don't you go home then?

  36:03-36:06

  Oh, if you don't feel like a soldier, why don't you go home, cupcake?

  36:08-36:10

  Is that what your commanding officer would say?

  36:11-36:13

  I wasn't in the army, so somebody helped me.

  36:13-36:13

  Is that what he would say?

  36:15-36:18

  Or would he say something like, "Oh, you don't feel like a soldier today.

  36:19-36:24

  "That's okay, we are committed to the process here." Right?

  36:25-36:26

  Same with God.

  36:26-36:29

  But we're like, "Oh, gosh, "I don't feel very victorious today.

  36:29-36:37

  "And I've had such a hard week." And God's like, "That's okay, "I'm committed to the process here." Right?

  36:38-36:44

  So once for all you are sanctified, once for all your sin is gone, once for all you are secure.

  36:44-36:46

  Do you see this guilt just kind of fading away?

  36:47-36:50

  There's one more here, once for all you are settled.

  36:52-36:55

  Jesus' death sealed the new covenant.

  36:57-37:04

  And once again, the Hebrew writer goes back to Jeremiah 31 verses 33 and then 34, look at verse 15.

  37:07-37:11

  It says, "And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us.

  37:13-37:26

  "For after saying, 'This is the covenant "'that I will make with them after those days,' "declares the Lord, 'I will put my laws on their hearts "'and write them on their minds.'" Stop there.

  37:28-37:32

  We spent so much time talking about this, so this is just ultra quick review.

  37:32-37:35

  But under the old covenant, I obeyed God out of fear.

  37:37-37:39

  The new covenant in Jesus Christ to obey God out of love.

  37:40-37:44

  Because in the old covenant, God's law was written on tablets of stone.

  37:44-37:48

  And in the new covenant, God wrote his law on your heart.

  37:48-37:52

  So it's a completely different motivation thing.

  37:52-37:55

  That's the transformation that Jesus Christ brings.

  37:55-37:58

  That's the new life that he gives you.

  37:58-38:09

  But look at verse 17, it says, then he adds, "I will remember their sins "and their lawless deeds no more." And you can't miss the contrast here.

  38:10-38:20

  'Cause remember, rewind a few verses, he told us the old covenant sacrifices were this constant reminder that God remembers your sin.

  38:22-38:25

  But under the new covenant, that's changed, hasn't it?

  38:26-38:42

  Now God says, "I will remember your sin no more." Notice he says, "I will not remember." That's different than forgetting.

  38:44-38:46

  It doesn't say God will forget your sin.

  38:49-38:50

  Huge difference.

  38:52-38:58

  You see, forgetting is an involuntary thing, right?

  39:00-39:03

  You can't really choose to forget.

  39:04-39:05

  Oh, that was bad.

  39:06-39:07

  That was a bad memory.

  39:07-39:09

  I'm just gonna choose to wipe that out.

  39:09-39:11

  You can't do that.

  39:11-39:12

  It's involuntary.

  39:14-39:15

  Right?

  39:16-39:21

  And some of us like me who have been hitting the head a lot, you know, this involuntary forgetting is a lot easier.

  39:26-39:34

  There's this lady that she's always reminding me the memory problems that I have, this, what's her name?

  39:36-39:41

  Erin, my wife, yes, she's always telling me, I forget things.

  39:43-39:45

  I'm like, I'm trying to remember too many things.

  39:48-39:54

  And church, my point is this, that's not the sense in which the Lord doesn't remember your sins.

  39:55-40:01

  It's not like you've had so many that God's like, "Well, I can't keep track." It's different.

  40:03-40:05

  It's God saying, "No, you know what?

  40:07-40:25

  "I'm choosing not to remember." That's why verse 18, our last verse today, it says, "Where there's forgiveness of these, "there's no longer any offering for sin." He's saying, "Jesus took away your sin.

  40:26-41:31

  "God declared he's not gonna remember it anymore, "So what else can possibly be done for your sin "when it's not around anymore to be an issue?" You know, many years ago, we were living in a house in Butler, and it's a long story, I'm not gonna bore you with the details, but we had to move out and find a new place to live, we had a tenant who was renting the house and again I'm abbreviating this story for the point but part of the sidewalk sunk in and we were unaware of that and the tenant never told us but it became a it became a police matter which we were also unaware of, because they were sending notices to that house.

  41:33-41:52

  And every time our tenant would get one of these notices in the mail, that was like, you fix the sidewalk, or you're gonna be on an episode of "Cops," every time she'd get one of those pieces of mail, she'd just be like, "Yep, that's not for me." And they kept sending them.

  41:52-41:55

  And she was like, "That's not for me." And they kept sending them.

  41:56-42:04

  They're like, "No, that's not for me." And then finally, after sending many of these things, I don't know if you remember how they eventually, she talked about forgetting.

  42:06-42:08

  I don't remember how they eventually got hold of us.

  42:08-42:15

  They're like, "You gotta fix the sidewalk." And I'm like, "What sidewalk?" Like the one we've been sending you all those notices.

  42:16-42:23

  And now you're looking at fines And oh, by the way, they're like, now you have a court date.

  42:25-42:27

  I'm like, sounds like fun.

  42:33-42:35

  I don't know if they finally did get my address right.

  42:40-42:45

  But I called and said, hey, I didn't know about this.

  42:47-42:48

  And my tenant never told me.

  42:49-42:54

  And so Aaron and I, we went and we repaired the sidewalk.

  42:55-42:56

  Because I called them.

  42:56-42:57

  I was like, look, I'm so sorry.

  42:59-43:00

  But we didn't know.

  43:00-43:01

  My wife and I fixed it.

  43:01-43:02

  It's over.

  43:02-43:04

  And they're like, no, you're going to appear in court.

  43:06-43:11

  And Aaron will tell you, for days, I was like so nervous.

  43:12-43:14

  And I'm like, what am I going to say?

  43:14-43:16

  Because I don't really have a good defense.

  43:16-43:21

  and you can just pin it on the tenant, you know, that's kind of crummy, right?

  43:21-43:34

  You just show up in court and you're like, "Oh yeah, my stupid tenant never gave me the mail." I never go, "Oh, okay, that's fine then." So I was like so nervous about this for days and I kept thinking about, what am I gonna say?

  43:34-43:39

  And what if they say this?

  43:39-43:41

  What am I gonna say in response to that?

  43:42-43:46

  And I remember the day I've got my shirt and tie on.

  43:46-43:52

  much like this, you know, I wanted to look, I wanted to look respectful, respectable, respectful, respectable.

  43:53-43:53

  I wanted to look good.

  43:54-44:03

  So I got my tie on, rehearsing the scenarios, and I'm like, okay, bottom line is this, I'm just gonna have to show up and beg for mercy.

  44:03-44:04

  That's my plan.

  44:04-44:05

  That's where I landed.

  44:08-44:50

  And I show up and I walked into the building where we were supposed to have this, you know, I don't think it's trial or one like OJ or whatever, but I walked into the building and there was like this reception area and there were these two ladies working there and I walk in and I'm sure I was plenty early and they said, "Okay, name." And I'm like, "Miller." So they start going through their paperwork and they're going through the filing cabinets and they come back and they said, "What'd you say your name was?" I'm like, "Miller." "Can you spell it?" Like the beer.

  44:56-44:59

  But they were looking and looking, could not find the paperwork.

  45:01-45:06

  So now I'm really starting to sweat because the one lady says, "You know what?

  45:06-45:32

  "The judge might have his paperwork already." I'm like, "Oh, great!" And I had this picture in my mind that the judge was like sitting in his office He's like, "I can't wait to throw the book at this guy." And like, I just had this whole thing, like I'm like, "Oh, this is, "I'm gonna tell my wife I loved her." And like, I had this whole, well anyways, I'm standing there sweating and they're looking on their desk and the filing cabinets and everything for the paperwork.

  45:33-45:38

  It just so happens the judge walked through the reception area and he was looking at something.

  45:38-45:40

  He had like a paper in his hand or whatever.

  45:41-45:46

  And he was walking through, like I said, and there's me standing there sweating through my suit and everything.

  45:49-46:00

  And they said, "Hey, we can't find some paperwork here." And Judge was like, "What's the name?" And they're like, "Miller." And the judge goes, "Oh, it's been taken care of." And he just kept walking.

  46:02-46:08

  And I'm like, "I'm sorry, what'd he say?" They said, "Oh, the judge said it's been taken care of.

  46:08-46:14

  "You can go." I did back handsprings down Route 8.

  46:20-46:21

  But you know what?

  46:24-46:24

  So should you.

  46:26-46:31

  Because there's a lot of Christians that are living that scenario that I was living in.

  46:32-46:34

  That you're like, what am I gonna say when I stand before God someday?

  46:34-46:35

  Because I know I'm guilty.

  46:36-46:40

  I guess I'm just gonna have to go before God someday and say, God, please show me some mercy.

  46:40-46:41

  But what if God says this?

  46:42-46:45

  They got this whole scenario in their mind.

  46:45-47:07

  And I'm gonna tell you something right now, is you're gonna show up and you're gonna be standing in God's little reception area, and God's gonna come through and he's gonna say, "It's been taken care of." That's what it means when God says, "I will remember their sins no more." It doesn't mean absent-minded old man has things slipping through.

  47:08-47:18

  It means I've chosen to take that paperwork and put it in the shredder, and it's no longer an issue.

  47:20-47:21

  It's been taken care of.

  47:22-47:23

  So you're settled.

  47:23-47:36

  Listen, if you believe in Jesus Christ, you are forgiven, your sin has been taken away, and there's nothing else that can be done.

  47:38-47:53

  and you can spend the rest of your life trying to fill the gap, and you're wasting your time, because it's been taken care of.

  47:56-48:08

  I can live free of guilt before God, because of His promise in Jesus, because I believe that His blood accomplished the very things that He says right here it accomplished.

  48:08-48:11

  I'm sanctified, my sin is gone, I'm secure.

  48:11-48:13

  Therefore, because all that's true, I can be settled.

  48:17-48:29

  But listen, if you've not received Christ and these promises sound exactly like what you need, I got great news for you.

  48:30-48:37

  Today, today can be the day for you that you can be done with guilt forever.

  48:38-48:44

  not forever, once for all, I believe is the way God put it.

  48:44-48:48

  You can be done with your guilt once for all.

  48:48-48:49

  Will you bow your heads with me, please?

  48:53-48:55

  As the worship team makes their way forward.

  49:01-49:09

  The Father in heaven, It is just a lack of believing your word.

  49:09-49:19

  Maybe sometimes it's just a lack of knowing what your word actually says, but God, even those of us who have believed in Christ have been born again.

  49:22-49:29

  We still walk around with this idea that we're guilty when your word makes it very clear that we are not.

  49:30-49:37

  So Father, I pray that you would Renew our minds.

  49:40-49:44

  Father, give us the ability to think the way you think.

  49:44-49:46

  And yes, we are going to sin.

  49:48-49:53

  And yes, you are still in the process of making us more and more like your son.

  49:57-50:06

  But that sin does nothing to stop the relationship that you've provided.

  50:09-50:23

  The Father, we can live, not trying to do work to fill that gap, not trying to constantly alleviate our guilt.

  50:23-50:33

  We can live knowing that you have pronounced us perfectly righteous because of the work that your Son has accomplished on that cross and through resurrecting from that tomb.

  50:35-50:41

  Father, today I want to pray for those who are sitting here or maybe watching this or listening to this later and they don't know you.

  50:43-50:58

  The Father, they may feel like they could never come to you because they're guilty, when the reality is that taking away guilt, that automatically happens when you take away sin.

  51:01-51:12

  So Father, minister your word and your grace to every heart here.

  51:15-51:25

  That as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ today, let us also celebrate what that accomplished in our lives.

  51:26-51:29

  We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Hebrews 10:1-18

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. Why did God ordain the Old Covenant if it couldn’t really take away sin? Why would God allow it to be a constant reminder of sin?
   

3. What does it mean to be “sanctified”? How is sanctification both a condition and a process?
   

4. Why do you think many Christians struggle with the idea of “once for all” we are saved, sanctified, and secure?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Why Jesus? Because Once for All: Sin is Put Away

Introduction:

It Was Necessary... (Hebrews 9:15-28):

1. For Jesus to Shed His Blood for My Forgiveness . (Heb 9:15-22)
2. For Jesus to Die Only Once as My Substitute . (Heb 9:23-28)

   2 Corinthians 5:21 - For our sake He (God the Father) made Him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

   1 Corinthians 1:18 - For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  01:01-01:17

  Alright, so you can open up to the book of Hebrews chapter 9 verses 15 through 28 Hebrews 9 verses 15 through 28 Have you ever asked yourself this question or asked someone else this question? Was that necessary? Was that really?

  01:18-01:36

  Necessary, maybe you're stuck in a long boring meeting at work and you're thinking to yourself Was this really necessary? Couldn't this have just been an email that I wouldn't even read anyway Or maybe you have a sociopathic co-worker who reheats fish in the shared microwave in the break room at work.

  01:37-01:38

  And you think to yourself, really?

  01:40-01:42

  Is there really nothing else you could have reheated for lunch?

  01:43-01:44

  Was that necessary?

  01:46-01:51

  I know as a father of two, I ask myself this question a lot every single day.

  01:52-01:59

  I leave the family room to make my kids some lunch and I come back to a mess that seems both impressive and impossible.

  02:00-02:04

  And I asked Sam and Emmy, did you really have to pull out every single toy?

  02:04-02:05

  Was that necessary?

  02:07-02:17

  On the other hand, when I lose my temper with my kids and the dust settles, I think to myself, was that necessary?

  02:18-02:21

  Surely there was a better way to handle that.

  02:22-02:33

  You know, this time of year, You'll come across the magazines and the grocery store and the think pieces online that focus on Jesus and the claims of his followers.

  02:33-02:41

  And eventually the question is asked, would a loving God really put his own son to death?

  02:42-02:43

  Was that necessary?

  02:45-02:47

  Let me ask you, how does our culture answer that question?

  02:47-02:48

  Yes or no?

  02:49-02:52

  They answer with a resounding no.

  02:53-02:54

  Was it necessary?

  02:54-02:55

  Of course not.

  02:55-02:59

  A loving God would never do something like this.

  02:59-03:04

  A God worth believing in would never put his own son to death.

  03:05-03:08

  Many look to the cross of Christ and are repulsed.

  03:10-03:13

  Many look to the cross of Christ and think, I don't need to be saved.

  03:14-03:15

  I'm doing just fine.

  03:15-03:17

  I'm a good person.

  03:19-03:24

  Well, I want us to turn our attention away from how our culture answers this question.

  03:25-03:31

  And I want us to focus our time and attention upon how the word of God answers this question.

  03:32-03:42

  Was it necessary for the sinless son of God to suffer a humiliating and horrendous death upon a cross over 2,000 years ago?

  03:43-03:51

  Spoiler alert for my message later on, the Bible is crystal clear that yes, This was absolutely necessary.

  03:51-03:59

  In this overwhelming yes from scripture, we should listen to way more than the nose of this world.

  04:01-04:13

  Our passage for this evening, Hebrews chapter nine, verses 15 to 28, lays out two clear and compelling reasons for the absolute necessity of the cross.

  04:14-04:17

  Before we dive into our text, let's go to the Lord and ask for his help.

  04:19-04:29

  Father, we thank you so much this time we can come together to focus on your son and what he did for us over 2,000 years ago.

  04:30-04:35

  Lord, I pray that every single distraction would be pushed aside in our minds.

  04:36-04:41

  That Lord, we'd be dialed in to what you wanna teach us this evening, Lord.

  04:42-04:48

  Pray that your Holy Spirit would encourage us, Convict us, challenge us in the ways only he can.

  04:49-04:52

  In the precious name of Jesus Christ, amen.

  04:53-05:02

  So our outline for this evening is, it was necessary, number one, for Jesus to shed his blood for my forgiveness.

  05:03-05:08

  It was necessary for Jesus to shed his blood for my forgiveness.

  05:09-05:12

  Let's start with Hebrews chapter nine, verses 15 through 22.

  05:13-05:28

  Therefore Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance since the death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

  05:28-05:33

  For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established.

  05:34-05:40

  For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not enforced as long as the one who made it is alive.

  05:40-05:45

  Therefore, not even the first covenant inaugurated without blood.

  05:46-06:10

  For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book in itself and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant "that God has commanded you." In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and the vessels used in worship.

  06:11-06:22

  Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

  06:23-06:28

  You may have noticed that the words blood and death are in this passage a lot.

  06:29-06:36

  We've learned over the past several months in Hebrews that animal sacrifices were a huge deal in the Old Testament.

  06:36-06:39

  They were a huge deal in first century Israel.

  06:39-06:47

  The Lord commanded his people to make continual sacrifices to cover their continual acts of sin.

  06:48-06:54

  God is too holy, he is too righteous, he is too pure to just let sin go unpunished.

  06:54-06:56

  There has to be a consequence.

  06:58-07:06

  But Pastor Jeff and I have repeatedly stated that these Old Testament sacrifices did not pay the penalty for sin.

  07:06-07:18

  The blood of animals allowed God to pass over the sins of his people until the day when Jesus would pay the penalty in full upon the cross.

  07:19-07:23

  You know, Pastor Jeff used an illustration a month or so ago to explain this.

  07:23-07:25

  And I'm gonna steal his illustration for tonight.

  07:26-07:27

  Don't worry, I asked for his permission.

  07:28-07:34

  The animal sacrifice in the Old Testament are like a credit card charge, like swiping a credit card.

  07:35-07:44

  You have to understand that when you swipe this card at the pump, when you swipe it at the grocery store, you're not actually paying in that moment, right?

  07:44-07:46

  You as an individual are not paying.

  07:46-07:53

  The credit card, the bank is paying in that moment, and you are promising to pay them back at a future date.

  07:54-08:01

  With each swipe of the card, you are building up a debt that will need to be paid in the future.

  08:01-08:04

  Someone will have to pay it.

  08:05-08:09

  This is what was happening with the Old Testament sacrificial system.

  08:09-08:20

  God's people were swiping that card with every single sacrifice and pushing off that debt day after day, month after month, year after year.

  08:22-08:31

  And then Jesus came and laid out the full payment upon the cross and erased the debt that was owed by those under the old covenant.

  08:32-08:39

  And he also purchased salvation for those who had placed their faith and trust in him from then on.

  08:40-08:59

  This is what the author of Hebrews is talking about, verse 15, "Therefore, Jesus is the mediator "of a new covenant so that those who are called "may receive the promised eternal inheritance "since a death has occurred that redeems, "that purchases them from a transgressions committed under the first covenant.

  09:01-09:09

  Without realizing it, Old Testament believers were looking forward to the life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah.

  09:10-09:16

  While as new covenant believers, we look back to the cross of Christ and his sacrifice.

  09:17-09:23

  They looked forward to what he would do, while we look backward to what he has already done.

  09:24-09:29

  Old Testament saints and Christian believers We are saved in the same exact way.

  09:29-09:32

  We are saved by grace through faith.

  09:32-09:34

  We are saved by Jesus Christ.

  09:36-09:43

  Our Old Testament brothers and sisters had a very blurry and incomplete picture of the coming Messiah.

  09:43-09:52

  While we today have a 4K quality view of our Savior and his accomplished mission of salvation.

  09:54-10:00

  Again, going back to our original question, did Jesus really have to die?

  10:01-10:03

  Was that really necessary?

  10:03-10:08

  Surely there was another way for God to deal with our sin problem.

  10:10-10:17

  You know, a few months ago, my wife Kate and I finally opened up life insurance policies after years and years of procrastination and putting it off.

  10:18-10:21

  We were just suddenly hit with a massive wave of responsibility.

  10:21-10:26

  We didn't want to put the other person or our kids in a bad spot if the worst was to happen.

  10:27-10:35

  But my kids do not get access to these funds from this policy apart from the death of Kate and myself.

  10:36-10:44

  You know, when they're teenagers, Sam and Emmy just can't walk into the life insurance office and say, "Money, please, money right now, I need it.

  10:44-10:48

  "This is my personal ATM." That's not how it works.

  10:48-10:55

  They do not receive the full benefits of this policy unless Kate and I both die.

  10:57-10:59

  And it's the same with the cross of Christ.

  11:00-11:07

  The benefits and blessings of salvation and grace cannot be withdrawn apart from the death of Jesus.

  11:08-11:13

  And the author of Hebrews clearly says this in verses 16 through 17.

  11:14-11:47

  "For where a will," he's talking about a person's last will and testament, "For where a will is involved, "The death of the person who made it must be established, "for a will takes effect only at death, "since it is not enforced, "as long as the one who made it is alive." Like a gracious father blessing his kids with a generous inheritance of money and heirlooms, God has overwhelmed us with an awesome inheritance of love, grace, mercy, and hope that will never spoil or grow old.

  11:49-11:57

  The death of Christ was the only way for this heavenly last will and testament to be accredited to our accounts.

  11:57-12:06

  The death of Jesus was the only way for those under the old covenant to be saved and to kick off a new covenant in his blood.

  12:07-12:17

  Without his payment upon the cross, we are still just racking up that sinful debt day after day that we can never hope to pay off on our own.

  12:19-12:30

  The author of Hebrews spends a decent chunk of time in verses 18 through 22, talking about the blood of the covenant that God made with Moses and the people of Israel.

  12:30-12:39

  In Exodus 24, Moses commanded that sacrifices be made to the Lord, and he collected the blood from these sacrifices into basins.

  12:40-12:47

  And he took half of that blood, and he threw it against the altar, and then he sprinkled the people of Israel with blood as well.

  12:48-12:53

  And he also sprinkled the commandments of God that he wrote down in a book.

  12:54-13:00

  And later on, we're told that the tabernacle, the tent was sprinkled and everything in it.

  13:01-13:04

  Everybody, don't worry, that's not gonna happen this Good Friday.

  13:04-13:08

  Don't worry, this is an Old Testament Sea World, and the first few rows are not the splash zone.

  13:08-13:09

  Don't worry, you're all safe.

  13:12-13:14

  But why does this passage talk about blood so much?

  13:15-13:17

  Why do we sing songs about the blood of Jesus?

  13:17-13:21

  Why do we preach sermons about the blood of Christ?

  13:21-13:23

  What's so special about blood?

  13:25-13:30

  Well, blood is always symbolized, both life and death.

  13:31-13:35

  To be alive, you have to have blood flowing through your body.

  13:35-13:39

  And if you lose enough blood, you lose your life.

  13:41-13:47

  As you've already learned, We are all sinners by nature and by choice, and our sin has to be punished.

  13:48-13:56

  We have all committed cosmic treason against the God of the universe by rebelling against his authority and going our own way.

  13:56-13:58

  God can't just ignore this.

  13:58-13:59

  He can't sweep it under the rug.

  14:00-14:02

  He can't just give us a stern warning.

  14:02-14:03

  There has to be a penalty.

  14:04-14:08

  And the Bible is so clear that the penalty for sin is what?

  14:10-14:10

  Death.

  14:13-14:18

  And there are only two acceptable ways for this penalty to be paid.

  14:19-14:32

  God the Father will either accept your eternal death in hell forever, or he will accept the death of his son in your place and on your behalf.

  14:33-14:41

  Jesus' blood, his very life, flowed out upon the cross so that you could be forgiven and washed clean.

  14:41-14:44

  This brutal death was necessary.

  14:45-14:51

  'Cause as we're told in verse 22, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

  14:53-14:56

  So was the shedding of Jesus' blood upon the cross necessary?

  14:58-14:59

  If you wanna be forgiven, it was.

  15:00-15:02

  The Bible is so clear on this.

  15:03-15:04

  There is no other way.

  15:06-15:09

  But I know that there are people in this room trying to make their own way.

  15:11-15:19

  Right now you're trying to earn God's love for you, you're trying to buy his forgiveness by being a good person and doing good things, checking off all the boxes on the nice list.

  15:20-15:26

  You may be coming to church every single week, you may be in a small group, you may even be serving on Sunday morning.

  15:28-15:35

  But internally you're trusting in yourself and you're not trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

  15:37-15:44

  You may be fooling me, you may be fooling Pastor Jeff, you may be fooling your family and friends, but guess what?

  15:45-15:46

  You're not fooling God.

  15:46-15:49

  He knows and sees everything.

  15:49-15:52

  He knows and he sees where your faith is.

  15:52-16:00

  He knows and sees if you're placing your full confidence in the blood of Jesus or in the sweat of your own efforts.

  16:01-16:07

  If that's you tonight, I am pleading with you Stop wasting any more of your time.

  16:07-16:14

  Don't waste another second trying to crawl and scratch your way to God when a way has been made for you already.

  16:16-16:26

  Tonight, lay all of your striving, lay all of your sinful burdens down at the cross of Christ and receive all the blessings that he purchased with his blood.

  16:29-16:37

  As we're told in the hymn, Rock of Ages, Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling.

  16:39-16:44

  So let me ask you this evening, are you clinging to the cross?

  16:44-16:46

  Are you clinging to your Savior?

  16:47-16:48

  Or are you clinging to yourself?

  16:50-16:52

  Honestly, think about that question.

  16:54-17:01

  It was necessary, number two, for Jesus to die only once as my substitute.

  17:02-17:05

  For Jesus to die only once as my substitute.

  17:10-17:13

  Let's continue on with verses 23 through 24.

  17:15-17:43

  Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these, for Christ has entered not into holy places "hands, which are copies of the true things, "but into heaven itself, now to appear "in the presence of God on our behalf." Over the past several weeks, Pastor Jeff has been talking a lot about the tabernacle, and later, the temple.

  17:44-17:52

  The tabernacle and later the temple were meant to serve as earthly copies or pictures of heavenly realities.

  17:53-17:58

  Look at the tabernacle or the temple as a miniature model of an actual building.

  17:59-18:04

  The model is not the building itself, but it tells you what the building is like.

  18:05-18:11

  The temple and the tabernacle were meant to be sketches, pictures of heaven.

  18:13-18:21

  And the Holy of Holies in the temple was meant to picture God's royal throne room in heaven where his glory dwells.

  18:22-18:32

  And according to the author of Hebrews, this ritual sprinkling of blood in the tabernacle pointed forward to the much better and greater sacrifices of Jesus Christ.

  18:34-18:46

  Jesus didn't physically enter into the earthly Holy of Holies in the temple as the high priest would once a year to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant, but he did something even greater.

  18:46-18:48

  He did something even more definitive.

  18:49-19:02

  After his death, Jesus entered into the heavenly holy of holies, into the throne room of God, and presented himself as the final victorious sacrifice, as the great high priest, as the savior of his people.

  19:03-19:09

  And because of this, he brings you with him into his presence as well.

  19:09-19:14

  He brings you into the presence of a loving God, both now and forever.

  19:16-19:26

  If you have trust in Christ for salvation, You have been brought into a glorious, beautiful, and never-ending relationship with the God of the universe.

  19:28-19:31

  God didn't just save us from an eternity in hell.

  19:32-19:37

  He saved us to an everlasting audience in the presence of God.

  19:38-19:40

  Let that sink in for a minute.

  19:40-19:42

  Really think about that.

  19:46-19:48

  We get to do life with God.

  19:48-19:56

  His very life flows through us, and we have the awesome privilege of serving Him, of living for Him.

  19:56-20:01

  The greatest gift of salvation is God Himself.

  20:02-20:03

  Do you really believe that?

  20:04-20:13

  The greatest gift of salvation is a relationship with God that can never ever be broken, no matter who you are, no matter what you do.

  20:14-20:16

  It doesn't get you excited, I don't know what will.

  20:19-20:22

  Let's continue on verses 25 through 28.

  20:24-20:35

  Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world.

  20:36-20:42

  But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away by the sacrifice of himself.

  20:43-20:46

  Sorry, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

  20:46-21:02

  And just as it appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

  21:04-21:13

  The writer of this book wants to make it crystal clear that the sacrifice of Jesus is nothing like the sacrifices that came before.

  21:13-21:18

  Unlike the sacrifices laid out in the law, Jesus' sacrifice was not continual.

  21:18-21:20

  It was once for all.

  21:21-21:23

  Once and only once.

  21:23-21:26

  Not a sacrifice to be repeated.

  21:27-21:35

  Jesus does not need to come back to suffer and die and rise again and then rinse, wash, and repeat the whole process all over again.

  21:35-21:37

  Once was more than enough.

  21:38-21:41

  His sacrifice has already been accepted by the Father.

  21:42-21:47

  What can you possibly add to what has already been perfectly completed.

  21:49-21:53

  And in verse 28, we're given an extremely important detail.

  21:53-21:58

  We're told that Jesus bore our sins on the cross.

  21:59-22:05

  This is so important because it makes the whole crucifixion so much more personal, so much more hard-hitting.

  22:06-22:10

  Jesus didn't just die for you on the cross.

  22:10-22:13

  He didn't just die for your sins upon the cross.

  22:13-22:16

  He became your sin on the cross.

  22:17-22:19

  He became your lustful thoughts.

  22:19-22:20

  He became your lying.

  22:20-22:22

  He became your pride.

  22:23-22:24

  He became your deception.

  22:25-22:27

  He became your gossiping, your slander.

  22:27-22:30

  He became all the sins that you struggle with.

  22:33-22:36

  Paul speaks this in 2 Corinthians 5.21.

  22:36-22:47

  For our sake, he, God the Father, made him, Jesus, to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

  22:49-22:54

  Jesus was treated as if he made every single bad decision that you've ever made.

  22:55-23:01

  He was treated as if he committed every single sin that you've ever given yourself over to.

  23:02-23:12

  In the most one-sided deal in human history, Jesus was given your sinful and shameful garbage and you were gifted with his limitless treasure.

  23:14-23:22

  Jesus bore all of your sin upon the cross so that you could forever bear his perfect righteousness forever.

  23:25-23:34

  The reality that Jesus bore all of our sin on the cross should cause us to take our sin extremely seriously.

  23:35-23:40

  A sinful thought, a sinful word, a sinful action It isn't just a small, "Oops, whoops," mistake.

  23:41-23:46

  It is something that your Savior had to suffer and die to pay for.

  23:48-23:59

  When you have a true and full idea of the scope of the cross, you begin to hate your sin with a fiery passion, and you want to do anything to fight against temptation.

  24:00-24:08

  To be clear, this isn't a legalistic battle where you try to earn God's love and acceptance by putting away sin and choosing righteousness.

  24:09-24:21

  Instead, this is a grace-fueled battle where you put away sin and choose righteousness because you treasure Christ too much to dishonor Him and His sacrifice.

  24:24-24:33

  In a similar way, the substitution of Jesus should cause all of us to take this life and our eternal destinies extremely seriously.

  24:35-24:37

  Listen again to verses 26 through 28.

  24:38-24:45

  But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

  24:45-25:01

  And just as it appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

  25:04-25:05

  Please listen to this.

  25:06-25:15

  With every breath that you take, with every day that you live, you are getting closer and closer and closer to death.

  25:17-25:19

  Death is something we all don't like to think about, right?

  25:20-25:21

  We wanna push it off.

  25:23-25:26

  But in this passage, we are forced to come to grips with it.

  25:27-25:34

  Unless our Lord returns in our lifetimes, which he very well could, All of us in this room will die.

  25:36-25:44

  This passage says, "Then we will face judgment." Go to one of two places, heaven or hell.

  25:45-25:54

  And the Bible describes heaven as life everlasting and eternal suffering in a lake of fire as the second death.

  25:56-26:01

  Christ laid down his life once and only once.

  26:02-26:12

  You can die only once, as he did, and then live with him forever, or you can die twice and spend eternity away from him.

  26:13-26:14

  The choice is yours this evening.

  26:17-26:26

  According to this passage, those of us who humble ourselves before the cross of Christ should also eagerly look forward to his return.

  26:27-26:37

  As I said earlier, we may not see it in our lifetimes, but we should hope with everything within us that our Lord will return soon.

  26:37-26:40

  Do you actually have that desire?

  26:41-26:44

  Or do you think, eh, I have some things I wanna see and do in the meantime.

  26:45-26:50

  What could possibly be better than seeing your Savior face to face?

  26:53-26:55

  If you're a believer in Christ, you shouldn't fear death.

  26:56-27:03

  You shouldn't fear the future that God has in store because it should be your innermost desire to spend forever with Him.

  27:04-27:17

  It should fill you with joy to know that the one who definitively saved you from the power and penalty of sin will one day fully free you from the presence of sin in your life.

  27:18-27:19

  Just think about that.

  27:20-27:23

  One day you will no longer have to deal with temptation.

  27:24-27:31

  You will no longer have to deal with that frustrating battle between your old self and your new self in Christ.

  27:31-27:42

  Your only desire, your only goal, your only ambition will be to forever honor and glorify the Lamb who was slain in your place and on your behalf.

  27:45-27:52

  So as we close, I wanna re-ask you the question that we've been contemplating all evening.

  27:53-27:56

  Was it necessary for Jesus to die on the cross?

  27:57-27:58

  What's the answer, church?

  27:59-28:07

  Absolutely and without a doubt, the Bible is 100% clear on this, and you will never ever be able to convince me otherwise.

  28:07-28:23

  You have a better chance of convincing me that a mouthful of dirt from outside tastes like a chocolate Easter bunny, or the clouds are made of marshmallow peeps, than convincing me that the cross is unnecessary, than convincing me that it's a made-up lie made up by men with ulterior motives.

  28:24-28:31

  This is the plan of a sovereign God who does things in a way that defies our limited minds and our wrong expectations.

  28:34-28:51

  As the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the word of the cross is folly "to those who are perishing, "but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God." What man or woman could possibly come up to something like this on their own.

  28:52-28:58

  It is too awesome, it is too glorious to be anything but the work of God.

  29:01-29:05

  So the author of Hebrews is obviously sold on the necessity of the cross.

  29:06-29:10

  The other New Testament writers are sold on the necessity of the cross.

  29:11-29:17

  I hope that it's clear as the preacher of this message, I'm sold on the necessity of the cross.

  29:18-29:19

  But what about you?

  29:20-29:23

  Are you sold or are you unsure?

  29:24-29:27

  Are you convinced or are you still riding the fence?

  29:28-29:33

  Have you truly bowed the knee to Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord?

  29:34-29:41

  The one who had his arms stretched out upon that cross has those same arms open wide to you.

  29:41-29:49

  He is calling you to run to him so he can embrace you if you simply repent of your sin.

  29:50-29:55

  trust in him alone for salvation, and believe in his loving sacrifice.

  29:56-29:57

  The worship team come forward as we pray.

  30:02-30:08

  Father, the gospel is so awesome, it is so glorious.

  30:09-30:12

  The cross of Christ is amazing.

  30:13-30:20

  And Lord, it's so easy to hear this kind of message all the time and read your word about the cross to have it become boring, Lord.

  30:20-30:21

  May this never be.

  30:23-30:26

  May every single time we hear it be like the first time we heard it, Lord.

  30:26-30:29

  This is the greatest news imaginable.

  30:29-30:31

  And I pray that we would always view it in that way.

  30:32-30:41

  If there's someone in this room who doesn't know and love you, God, I pray that you'd open up their heart to the truth and you'd give them the faith to believe.

  30:42-30:53

  And for those of us who do believe in you, may be once again be blown away by your glory and by the sacrifice of your son.

  30:55-30:57

  In Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Hebrews 9:15-28

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. Why was it necessary for Jesus to die on the cross? Couldn’t have God the Father saved/forgiven us in any other way?
   

3. How should the message of the cross change how I view my own sanctification process and battle with sin?

Breakout
Pray for one another.