Hebrews Chapters 5, 7, 9 & 10

Introductory Statements:

If there’s one thing I love about the church of Christ, it’s the fellowship of the believers.

As I’ve visited different churches over the nearly 20 years that I’ve been saved – from South Dakota to North Dakota, from Montana to Wyoming, from Wisconsin to Minnesota to Indiana to Illinois to Iowa, there’s been one common thread through them all: The unconditional, loving fellowship of the believers.

I’ll fellowship with anyone who makes a claim to know Christ, and who has shown it with their life. And yet, the fellowship of believers who are "of like faith and practice" – those who are "on the same page" spiritually as you are – is an incomparable blessing for the believer!

The work of Christ – in His creative act, in His immaculate incarnation, in His sinless life, in His torturous trial, in His unjust death, His hasty burial, His miraculous resurrection, His final instructions, His incomprehensible ascension, His glorification, His intercession, intervention, and imminent glorious return – is what indivisibly binds us together as born-again believers. He is risen! And we live with the assurance of a right standing with God, thanks to what Christ did for us in all of these things!

Of course, Christ didn’t simply die to give us fellowship. His death paid the price for all of our sins, throughout all time. And yet, when we applied that payment personally through repentance and faith in Christ as our Messiah and Master, the Father made us "accepted in the beloved," that is, "accepted in" Jesus Christ.

When God sees Christ, He sees us. And when God sees us, He sees the covering of Christ’s righteousness!

We owe Christ so much – an infinite debt, as a matter of fact – and we cannot, through good deeds, reformation, penance, or any other means, ever repay Him for what He’s done for us!

Today, we will look at what Christ, in His sacrifice, accomplished for us as believers. But first, we will compare the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, to that once-for-all, eternal sacrifice, and draw some conclusions from there.

I. SACRIFICES UNDER THE OLD COVENANT (THE LAW) – In the Old Testament sacrifices …

• 5:1-3 – The high priest had to offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as the sins of the people – "every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: 2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. 3 And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins."

• 7:11 – These sacrifices did not, and could not, provide ‘perfection’ - "If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?"

• 7:18 – These sacrifices made nothing perfect - "For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. "

• 7:26-27 – These sacrifices needed to be offered day after day, for the sins of the people, as well as for the sins of the priests – " For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself."

• 8:10-13 These sacrifices were made ‘obsolete’ by the implementation of the new covenant – "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. "

• 9:6 In the Old Testament sacrifices, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry - "Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God."

• 9:7 – Only high priest entered the inner room, only once a year, only with blood, making an offering for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance – "But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people."

• 9:9 – These gifts and sacrifices were not able to clear the conscience of the worshipper – "Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience."

• 9:10 – These sacrifices were temporary ‘external regulations’ – "Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation."

• 9:11 – They were offered in a man-made tabernacle - "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building."

• 9:12 – They involved the blood of goats and calves – "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."

• 9:13 – The blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer could only ‘sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean’ - "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh."

• 9:18 – These sacrifices were not put into effect without blood – "Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood."

• 9:22 – The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness – "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."

• 9:24 – They were offered in a man-made sanctuary, which was only a copy of the true one – "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us."

• 9:25 – The high priest enters the Most Holy Place again and again, year after year, with blood that is not his own – "Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others."

• 10:1-2 – The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves. Therefore the law can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship – "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins."

• 10:3 – Those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins - "But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year."

• 10:4 – It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins – "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins."

• 10:5-8 God did not desire sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings and sin offerings, nor was he pleased with them - "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law."

• 10:9 – The Old Testament sacrifices have been set aside by God – "Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second."

• 10:11 – The daily repeated sacrifices can never take away sins - "And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins."

By way of contrast, consider what is said about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ:

II. THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST – Christ’s sacrifice …

• 7:27 – Need not be offered day after day, nor was His sacrifice for His own sins, because He had no sin (1 Peter 2:21-22 – "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth"). He sacrificed for their sins once-and-for-all, when He offered up Himself – "Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself."

• 9:9 – It is able to clear the conscience of the worshiper – "Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience."

• 9:12 – Christ entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption – "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."

• 9:14 – The blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanses our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God – " How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

• 9:15 – Christ died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant – "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance."

• 9:25 – Christ does not have to enter heaven to offer himself again and again – "Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others."

• 9:26 – He appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself – "For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."

• 9:28 – Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people – "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

• 10:1 – The sacrifice of Christ makes perfect those who draw near to worship – "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect."

• 10:2 – Christ’s worshippers are, and have been, cleansed once and for all, and no longer feel guilty for their forgiven sins which were committed in the past – " For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins."

• 10:10 – We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all – "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

• 10:12 – Jesus offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, and sat down at the right hand of God – "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God."

• 10:14 – By one sacrifice, Christ has made perfect forever those who are being made holy – "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."

• 10:17 – Through our appropriation of the eternal sacrifice of Christ, God no longer remembers our sins and lawless acts – "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."

• 10:18 – Furthermore, where these sins have been forgiven ,there is no longer any sacrifice for sin necessary, or even available, for us – "Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin."

• 10:19 – Through the sacrifice of Christ, we now have eternal confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus – "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus."

• 10:20 – We also have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by a new and living way opened for us through … his body – "By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh."

• 10:22 – Therefore … "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."

• 10:23-25 – And therefore … "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."

The implications of what the writer has taught us about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ are massive. He tells us of something that is complete and permanent, something that has happened once-for-all in the one act of Jesus Christ, something that never was and never could be done by the old sacrifices. Think again of the impact this one, once-for-all, never to be repeated, permanent in its effect, sacrifice of Christ has:

III. THE EFFECTS OF THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST

1. The redemption it obtained is eternal – 9:12 – "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."

2. It cleanses our consciences, and liberates us to serve God – 9:14 - "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

3. It sets us free from sins – 9:15 – "For this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance."

4. It does away with sin – 9:26 – " Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."

5. It is established – 10:9 – "He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second."

6. It makes us holy – 10:10 – "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

7. It is permanently effective, finished and complete, and it makes us perfect forever – 10:12-14 – "This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."

8. God remembers our sins and lawless acts no more – 10:17 – "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."

9. It makes any further sacrifice for sin redundant and unnecessary – 10:18 – "Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin."

10. It means that we have confidence to enter the very presence of God without fear of judgment or condemnation – 10:19 - "[We have] therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus."

11. It means we can draw near to God with full assurance of faith, with our hearts cleansed of a guilty conscience before God – 10:22 – "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."

Concluding Remarks:

Because of all Christ has done for us in sacrificing Himself on the cross, and redeeming our souls, we must needs follow the advice of the author of the letter to the Hebrews, whomever he may be : "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching" (Hebrews 10:19-25).

"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do" (1 Thessalonians 5:2-11).

"Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. 15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation" (2 Peter 3:8-15).

"I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Finally, ask yourself these questions: do I really believe each of these statements from Hebrews? Or am I still burdened with a guilty conscience? Am I still living as though God still remembers my sins? Am I depending totally on the one, once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, or do I believe that my spiritual successes increase my standing in the presence of God and my spiritual failures diminish my acceptance in the presence of God? Do I believe that because of the death of Christ I have been set free to serve God – or do I feel that I must be ‘good enough’ before I can serve him? Do I live with the joy of knowing that, in Christ, God sees me ‘perfect’ and ‘holy’, or do I still see him angry or distant because of my sin? Do I know the peace of perfect access to him, or am I in the mindset that still sees my relationship with him severed every time I sin? Do I have the confidence and full assurance of faith which this letter says I have? Grasp hold of these great and liberating truths, and rejoice!

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