The One Sacrifice

This morning as we gather together, our prayer is that you would see only Jesus Christ, our Lord. We hope that you've come to see only Him. See no one else but our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, the Bible says, you see Him not with a physical eye, but with a spiritual eye.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. As you recall, back in John's Gospel, John chapter 12, it says, now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast. These men came to Philip who was from Bethsaida of Galilee and began to ask him, saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. So Philip brought them to Andrew. Why? Because Andrew's always in the process of bringing people to Jesus. Andrew's name means manly. Therefore, what it means to be a man is that you lead people to Jesus.

You lead them into a closer relationship with Jesus. That's what it means to be a man. And so Philip brought these Greeks to Andrew that they, or he, might bring them to see Jesus. And then the Lord said these words, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Why would He say that? Why would He say, it's great to meet you? What is your name? Where are you from? Why would He say, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified? Simply because if you want to see Jesus, you must see Him prophesied in Scripture.

If you see Him prophesied in Scripture, you'll see Him crucified on Mount Calvary. Because everything about the Old Testament would prophesy the arrival of the Messiah. And why the Messiah came, He came to die. So if you see Him prophesied, you see Him crucified, then you can't help but see Him verified. Because everything about His life verifies that everything in the Old Testament's true. Where He died, when He died, how He died, who He was, where He's from, it would all be verified on Mount Calvary.

Because everything was pointing to the apex of redemptive history, the cross of the Son of God. If you have seen Him prophesied, and you've seen Him crucified, you've seen Him verified, then you will see Him glorified. The hour is coming, He says. What's the hour? It's that word used seven times in John's Gospel to speak of the crucifixion of the Messiah. That hour was prophesied. The hour is when He was crucified. The hour is when He was verified as the Son of God, as the Son of Man. And it's because of that, He now is glorified.

Son of Man has come so that He might be glorified. That is the hour. That's how you see Jesus. If you're unwilling to see Him prophesied, you'll never see Him crucified. If you're unwilling to see Him crucified, you'll never see Him verified. You'll never see Him glorified. Then you'll never be sanctified, nor will you be justified. Because sanctification and justification come because we're set apart unto God for His purposes and declared righteous before Him because we believe in the cross of Calvary.

So important to understand that. Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Ah, the hour is coming where the Son of Man will be glorified. And He says this, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground, to the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. In order for the Son of Man to be multiplied, to bear much fruit, He must die. And everything about the ministry of Christ centers around that sacrifice where the Bible says in Matthew 20, verse number 28, the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.

On top of that, that's why Paul said, we preach Christ crucified, which is our gospel. First Corinthians chapter one.

In first Corinthians chapter two, he said, we determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Why? Because Paul knew that he wanted to be identified with the crucified. That's why he said, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. He understood what it meant to take up his cross and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. He had to give his life away in order to obtain the life of Christ. And so he was willing to do that. The book of Hebrews talks to us about that one sacrifice that made Him supreme over all, that made Him the all-sufficient God of the universe.

The writer of Hebrews is trying to paint the portrait of the Messiah in such a clear and precise way that all of these Jewish people know who He is, why He came, and what He did for them, to compel them to give their life to the Messiah, to embrace Him as their Lord and Savior, and not to let the opportunity for salvation to pass. So if you have your Bible, Hebrews chapter 10 is where we are. We're going to cover the first 18 verses this morning.

Last week we covered 13. This week we're going to cover 18, and then we'll slow it down a little bit as we go through the rest of Hebrews chapter 10 into Hebrews chapter 11, where we take one verse at a time once again. But we want to make sure you understand exactly what's happening. It concludes the doctrinal section of the book of Hebrews. So when we get to next week, Hebrews chapter 10, verse number 19, it goes into the application of the book of Hebrews to your life and to mine. So these 18 verses conclude the doctrinal section of the book of Hebrews that began in Hebrews 1, verse number 1.

And everything about these 18 verses teaches us about the many sacrifices versus the one sacrifice. The many animal sacrifices that were unable to accomplish what the one sacrifice of the Messiah did accomplish. It teaches us about how all the animal sacrifices failed to cure man from his sin. But the one sacrifice fulfilled the opportunity to cure man from his sin. And so that's what the writer of Hebrews wants them to understand. It's basically a summation of Hebrews 7, 8, and 9 all together in the first 18 verses of Hebrews chapter 10.

So let's begin by looking at how the animal sacrifices, the many sacrifices, failed to do what only the one sacrifice could do. It says in Hebrews 10, verse number 1, these words, for the law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. In other words, there are many sacrifices that have been offered over the years, year after year after year, hundreds of thousands, millions of sacrifices, could never ever accomplish what needs to be accomplished in your life, and that is to bring you to a place of perfection.

And what is perfection in the Hebrews? Perfection as Hebrews is simply defined as access into the presence of the living God. How do we know that? Hebrews chapter 7, verse number 11, we covered this months ago. It says this, now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek? And then down in verse number 19, for the law made nothing perfect, and on the other hand, there is a bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God.

So therefore, you realize that the better hope allows you to obtain perfection, that is, the opportunity to draw near to God, because they could not gain access to God. There was always that veil in the temple, that veil in the tabernacle, that kept them outside the presence of God. And men longed to be in the presence of Almighty God, but only the high priest once a year on the day of atonement was able to do that. Only Moses, before the priesthood was established, was the one who could do that.

And so in order to obtain perfection, all those animal sacrifices could not. Historians tell us that during Passover week, there are some 300,000 lambs or more sacrificed during Passover week. Understand the implications of that. Think about the Lord Jesus Christ, when He concludes His time up in the upper room, and they make their way down into the valley of the Kidron, the Kidron Valley, in order for them to ascend up into the Mount of Olives. We don't know exactly where the upper room is, does it tell us?

There is a traditional place that you can go to today, that some think it was in that vicinity because they've done excavations in the courtyard of that area, and they've come up with some things that would help them understand that there was a church there in the first century, that maybe that was the location of the upper room, maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, we don't know that for certain.

But we do know this, that when John 17 was over, and they made their way to Gethsemane, they had to descend into the Kidron Valley in order to ascend up to the Mount of Olives. Why is that important? Because once they came, the temple police, the soldiers, the Pharisees, came and took Jesus from the Garden of Gethsemane, they had to descend the Mount of Olives, cross over the Kidron Valley once again, and ascend back up into the House of Annas, the House of Caiaphas, Herod, and Pilate, the trials.

So the question comes, what is so significant about the Kidron Valley? It's because that during sacrifices in the temple, there were channels that were built for the blood that would flow from the sacrifices down into the Kidron Valley. And so when Jesus was crossing over the Kidron, with all the lambs that are being slaughtered, and all the blood that's being, that's flowing over the Kidron Brook, knowing that His sacrifice is the one sacrifice that would allow man to have access to the Father, that people would cross that brook, and many of them would never make a decision in the Valley of Decision, that's what the Kidron Valley is, it's called the Valley of Decision, they would not make a decision to embrace the Messiah as their Lord and Savior.

And so as He would cross over to go up and ascend the Mount of Olives, taken captive and going back across the Kidron, back to the House of Annas and Caiaphas, it was that reminder that His blood would flow the very next day, and His death would open the door for man to reach perfection, that is, access into the presence of God. And all those sacrifices that were offered, millions upon millions throughout the history of Judaism, none of them could never give them what they so desperately desired.

So the question comes, why did the Lord give them a sacrificial system that was inadequate? Well, it wasn't that it was inadequate, it accomplished what it was supposed to accomplish. But there were three things it couldn't do, it could not perfect you, it could not purify you, and it could not please God, did you get that? It could not perfect you, it could not purify you, and it could not please God fully. That's very important to understand that. And so the Rite of Hebrews begins in verse number one, all these sacrifices, they could never perfect you.

They could never get you to where you need to be, why? Because they were just pictures. They were pictures that would paint the portrait of the Messiah. Everything about the ceremonies, everything about the rituals, everything about the things that they would accomplish day in and day out, were all symbols, were all pictures, they were all shadows of the reality that was going to come. That's why we tell you over the years, what? When you go through the book of Genesis, they were pictures of what?

The seed of Genesis 3, verse number 15, that would come and cross the serpent's head. That they were pictures of the safe house of God, Genesis chapter 6, the ark, and how the Lord is pictured in the ark of Noah to protect people from the wrath to come. How everything in Genesis 22 painted a picture of a substitute that would come and bear the sins, your judgment, your condemnation for us. That would lead to the picture of the staircase in Genesis chapter 28, the only way to heaven. So Jacob would say, I've seen the gateway to God.

It's a staircase that leads from earth to glory, that I might somehow gain access into the presence of God. I've seen the doorway to heaven. Again, a picture of everything that would foreshadow what was to come. That would take you to Genesis chapter 49 to show you that it was a picture of Shiloh, the one to whom it belongs, right? The scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes, the one to whom it belongs. And then it would move from the book of Genesis to the book of Exodus to show us a spotless lamb during Passover, all foreshadowing, all picturing the arrival of the Messiah.

From the book of Exodus to the book of Leviticus to show us that there was a scapegoat that would remove your sins far from you. To take you to the book of Numbers, that in Numbers chapter 24, there was a star that will rise out of Jacob, who will hold the scepter in his hand, that this will be the king of Israel. To the book of Deuteronomy to show you that there was a seer greater than Moses who will arise and you must listen to him. And we can take you all through the Old Testament to show you that chapter after chapter, book after book, there is a painting of a portrait of the Messiah, the person at work of the Messiah, who is going to come and fulfill all the pleasure of God.

So why do they have to keep doing this, all these sacrifices? Because it reminded them of their anticipation. There was always this anticipation of what was going to come. And as the portraits were being painted all throughout the Old Testament, they began to see this portrait of one who would come and remove them from their sins. That's why Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1, 10 and 11, that the prophets of old would search diligently to know about this person who was going to come, this Messiah who was going to arrive.

So it reminded them that they lived in anticipation of this great Messiah who was going to come. But it always reminded them of their transgression that kept them from the Messiah. That's why there were blood sacrifices. Why? Because there was this constant reminder that sin brought death and their transgressions separated them from their God and there needed to be offered a sacrifice continually that they might have their sins covered. So it reminded them of their anticipation. It reminded them of their transgression.

It reminded them of God's perfection because He is holy, holy, holy and man is unable to reach a holy God because of his sin. But it also reminded them that there was a provision. And what was the provision? That God would cover their sins and it would be a temporary covering until they sinned again. And they had to go back in and sacrifice once again. But there was a provision that God had given them that would take them until Messiah would arrive. And there was that constant reminder of retribution to all those who would not believe that that sacrifice was a picture of what the ultimate sacrifice would bring, a removal of all their sins.

So important to understand that. And so the writer of Hebrews says, look, let me show you about these many sacrifices that could cover your sin, but they could not cure you from your sin because only one sacrifice could do that one.

That was the sacrifice of the Messiah. But these many sacrifices covered your sin, but they could not perfect you. And number two, they could not purify you.

Says in verse number two, otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered because the worshipers having once been cleansed would no longer have had consciousness of sins.

But in those sacrifices, there was a reminder of sins year by year. In other words, there was nothing that would purify your conscience from the guilt that you had because of your sin. Your conscience was still filled with guilt. There was no cleanliness on the inside. There was an external covering, but there was not an internal curing of the sin problem. And so because there was this external covering on the inside, there was this consciousness that sin was ever before me and that I was guilty before God because all those other sacrifices couldn't do that.

That's why it says over in verse number 13 of chapter nine, for if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling, those who have been defiled, sanctified for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more would the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead work to serve the living God. There's something about the one sacrifice that Christ gave that would clear your conscience versus all the many sacrifices that were done through animal sacrifices that could not clear your guilty conscience.

And so they could not purify you on the inside. There was that constant promise of Ezekiel's promise in Ezekiel chapter 36 when the Lord says, I will sprinkle clean water on you. You will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will be careful to observe my ordinances.

That's the promise of the new covenant through the prophet Ezekiel. That's what they were looking for. That's what they lived in anticipation of. And so while these sacrifices could not perfect them, that is give them access into the presence of God, could not purify their guilty conscience, but only reminded them that they were still sinners and they had to keep offering sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice to get that sin covered by the blood of that animal, there was coming one sacrifice.

One sacrifice that would cleanse their guilty conscience. The one sacrifice that would be once forever. And then, number three, you realize that not only could it not perfect you nor purify you, it could not please God fully.

Listen to this, verse four, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. It's impossible. It can't happen. You can cover your sins, but you can't take them away. So it says in verse number five, therefore, when he comes into the world, he says, and this is a quote from Psalm 40 verses four to six, sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, you have taken no, what? Pleasure. Well, wait a minute.

Why is it God will not take pleasures in those things? Simply because everything that began with Israel on a really good note became so ritualistic for them. They just kind of went through the motions. There was no heart behind it. There was no desire for obedience behind it. You see, when I came to offer my sacrifice, if my heart wasn't in it, because the sacrifices of God are what a broken and contrite heart, Oh God, you will not despise. You see, it wasn't the sacrifices that atone for your sin.

It was the belief that you had in your heart toward the living God as to what that sacrifice pictured and that you believe in that, that would atone for your sins. It's like Calvary's cross. The cross doesn't just forgive you point blank. You have to believe that the Christ, the Messiah came to die in your place to receive your punishment so that you would be set free to serve him as the living God. And you embrace that sacrifice because you believe in all that he came to do for the glory of his name.

And so these people became very ritualistic in their approach. The Bible says over in Isaiah chapter one, these words, verse 11, what are your multiplied sacrifices to me?

Says the Lord, I have had enough of burnt offering of rams and the fat of fed cattle. And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, and goats. What are you doing here? You coming, you're offering these sacrifices and they mean nothing to me because you're doing it from a ritualistic perspective. Now we understand this because a lot of you here today, because it's a ritual, you come every Sunday to the church, 9 a.m. It's like clockwork. You wake up, you get dressed, you take a shower, hopefully before you get dressed, and then you get in your car and you come to church because that's what you always do on Sunday.

It becomes very ritualistic, kind of go through the motions when you get here, your heart might not even be in it, but you're here, very ritualistic. We partake at the Lord's table, first Sunday of every month, right?

It can become very ritualistic because it's the blood that was shed for you, it was the body that was given for you, and you take it, you remember what the Lord did, and it means nothing on the inside because it becomes just a very normal ritual. Well, think about Israel and all the laws and ceremonies and rituals that they had to be involved in. Sooner or later, they would lose heart, and they would just go through the motions, and it meant nothing to them. That's why Samuel told Saul in 1 Samuel chapter 15, these words, to obey is better than sacrifices.

God doesn't want the sacrifice as much as He wants the heart of the person who offers the sacrifice because those sacrifices didn't please Him. And therefore, He says in Psalm 40, as the right of Hebrews would quote it, and remember, the right of Hebrews never tells you where He's quoting from. He's going to quote Psalm 110 again. He's going to quote Jeremiah 31 in here. He's already quoted Psalm 40. Why does He never tell you where He's quoting from? Because He's writing to Jews. The Jews know the Old Testament.

He doesn't have to tell them chapter and verse. We need to know chapter and verse. They didn't need to know that. They already knew it. He's just reminding them of what was said in the book that they knew so well. But because they became so ritualistic in their religion, they missed everything about the arrival of the Messiah. So He makes it very clear, all these sacrifices, they could not perfect you. They could not purify you because they could not please the Lord God of Israel fully because there was coming a sacrifice that would fully please Him.

And that is the one sacrifice of a son. That's why it says in Isaiah 53, verse number 10, it pleased the Lord to crush His son. That's where His pleasure lied, in crushing His son because that sacrifice would open the door that man would gain access into the presence of the living God. They'd be able to reach that level of perfection, that completed end, that is that opportunity to be in God's presence. They had the opportunity to be purified on the inside, not just covered on the outside, but actually cleansed on the inside because a new covenant promise would come into fruition and God would be pleased, which leads us to the second half of the chapter, which deals with the fact of the one sacrifice and what the one sacrifice did.

And you pick it up in verse number five and it says, sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me, a body you have prepared for me. In hope or an offering to sacrifices for sin, you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I have come in the scroll of the book. It's written of me, where's it written? In the Old Testament. How do we know that? We know that Luke 24, what did Christ say? If you had just understood what the Old Testament said, the law and the prophets, but you didn't get it.

It's all written down there. That's what Paul said in Acts 26, as he went back to the Old Testament scriptures to tell them about the arrival of the Messiah, it's all been written down there. So he says, to do your will, O God, been written down to do your will, O God. This is such a magnificent passage of scripture because it's not a direct quote, although it's a quote, because in Psalm 40, it doesn't say, but a body you're prepared for me. It says that my ears have been digged. My ears have been digged.

That is, they've been carved out, and yet the writer of Hebrews says, a body thou has prepared for me. Now it's one and the same. It's not different because the ear is part of the body, but the emphasis is on that one sacrifice and what that one sacrifice came to do. And it came, listen, to give supreme attention to everything the master said. That's why the psalmist talks about the ears being digged, being carved out, because there was a body being prepared. There was an actual body that was prepared that was placed in the womb of Mary, that his father prepared for him, and those ears would be symbolic of attention, listening to everything his father said.

Over in Isaiah chapter 50, these words are spoken. Verse number five, the Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not disobedient, nor did I turn my back. I gave my back to those who strike me, and my cheeks to those who pluck out the beard. I did not cover my face from humiliation and spitting. Messiah, speaking of the fact that he opened his ears to hear everything the master said. And so when the writer of Hebrews is quoting Psalm, he goes further than just the ears. He goes to the whole body. Now another thing about the ear, think about this.

As a slave, every seven years there was called the year of Jubilee, and the slaves were set free unless that slave wanted to stay with that owner. If that slave wanted to stay with that owner, they would take that man, put him up against a tree, and drive a nail through his ear so that that servant would be owned by that master. So inherent in the attention that the servant gives to the master is the submission that a servant has toward his master. That I want to give my life to you. I'm going to serve you for my entire life.

I've come to do your will, oh Lord. That's why he says in John, the hour that's before me, he's come for one specific hour when he would die because he would please his Lord to be crushed. And so he came for that hour. He came as a willing servant. He took on the form of a man. He humbled himself. It speaks of his attention, his submission, his humiliation in the incarnation. Because it speaks to the body that was prepared specifically for this time. And that's why this one sacrifice would be so pleasing to the Father, because the Father prepared the body for the incarnation, for the enfleshment of a son who would live in submission to the will of the Father.

And isn't it interesting that everything about the ministry of Christ, Satan did all he could to keep him from the cross. From the very beginning when he was born, Revelation 12, the red dragon would stand over the woman who was Israel as she gave birth to the child who was the Messiah. So the red dragon who was Satan could destroy the child. We understand that through Herod, his desire to kill all the children two years and younger because he didn't want another king on the scene. But the Lord spared them, spared the Messiah.

All throughout his temptations in the wilderness, Satan trying to give him the kingdoms of the world by throwing himself off the pinnacle of the temple and just let God's angels have charge over you, thinking that if he threw himself off, he would die, he could bypass the cross. He can't die for your sins and mine, therefore we can't be redeemed. He has no children. See that? Everything about Satan's mechanism was to get Christ away from the cross. He even used Peter when Christ gave that great admonition that he was going to suffer and die.

And Peter said, oh, no, Lord, you're not going to die. You're the Messiah. You're the son of the most high God, the living God. You're not going to die. And what did Christ say? Get thee behind me, Satan. Because even the best people that you and I know in our lives can be used by Satan to keep us from fulfilling the mission that God has for us. And sometimes we miss that. And that became the perfect illustration. Even the Garden of Gethsemane, when he was tempted. There was temptation all throughout his life.

That's why everything about the cross was so precise. That's why Judas never knew what was happening. Judas didn't know where the upper room was, because if he did, they would have captured him in the upper room. But Judas didn't know. He had to wait. Then he couldn't leave until Christ let him leave. And then he could only go to where Christ always went, the Garden of Gethsemane. And that's where they captured him, because everything was on a divine timetable. He had to die on Passover at the exact time when all the Passover lambs are being sacrificed, because Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us, 1 Corinthians 5, 7.

He's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That's what John the Baptist said. Everything had to happen precisely on course. This is just an amazing testimony to the veracity of Scripture and how it all comes together. So the writer of Hebrews quotes from Psalm 40 to show them that the rituals that they were going through did not please their God. But what pleased them was the one sacrifice that would come, because that body was specifically prepared by His Father who is in heaven, and He would come to do the will of His Father.

And what was that? To die on Calvary's cross. If you read on in Hebrews chapter 10, it says these words. And saying above, sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have not desired, nor have you taken pleasure in them which are offered according to the law. Then He said, behold, I have come to do your will. He takes away the first in order to establish the second.

He takes away the old covenant, the first things, in order to establish the new covenant, to ratify the new covenant.

Why? Because the old is done away with. All the ceremonies, all the rituals, all the symbols, all the shadows, they're all done away with. By the one sacrifice that would come to replace all the other sacrifices that were offered. And it says these words, by this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once forever. Once for all. There's just one sacrifice that's not offered continually over and over and over again. Jesus didn't die, rise, go to heaven, every time you sin, come back, sacrifice again, go back to heaven, come back, be sacrificed again, go to heaven, come back every time you sin.

No. It's one sacrifice that is sufficient for the sins of man. That's the beauty of it. One sacrifice offered only once. It lasts forever. It's not continual. So he goes on and says these words in verse 11, every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. Here they are, day after day, offering sacrifice after sacrifice, a multitude of them during Passover, okay, but they can never take away your sins. They can never cure you of the sin problem.

They could cover your sins so you can have an external relationship with God, but not an internal relationship with God because God didn't dwell in them as He dwells in you and me. That was the mystery, not revealed in the Old Testament, but revealed in the New Testament. Christ in you, the hope of glory, right? So now you begin to see how it is the working of God is at play. Verse 12, but he having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet.

In other words, when he died, he conquered the work of Satan, right? The fulfillment of Genesis chapter 3, verse number 15, where he crushed the serpent's head. Hebrews 2, 14 and 15, he destroys the works of the devil. That's what he does. We talked about it last week. He ravaged the enemy. He destroyed the works of the devil. He was able to defeat his enemies, to put things, all things under subjection to him. All things now are submissive to him because he's King of kings and Lord of lords. The Bible says, for by one offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

In other words, those who are being sanctified, those who have been set apart under God for his purposes, are set apart in such a way, they are set apart unto God, for God, in the presence of God, to serve their God. They have been set apart unto God for the glory of His name. They might serve Him and honor Him, they are used in a very special way by the Lord God Himself. He says in verse 15, and the Holy Spirit also testifies to us for after saying, this is the covenant that I will make with them, after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws upon their heart and on their mind, I will write them, and then he says, and their sins and their lawless deeds, I will remember no more.

So all these Old Testament sacrifices could not cure you of your sin, but this one sacrifice, it can do that. I will remember the sins no more. This is Jeremiah 31. He's quoting New Covenant promise, they don't have to say it's Jeremiah. They loved Jeremiah. The Jews admired, they exalted Jeremiah, and they lived in the fulfillment of the New Covenant. So we say to them, look, this is what Jeremiah said, you guys believe in Jeremiah, right? Course you do. You know he spoke about the New Covenant, right?

Of course you do. Well this one came, this one sacrifice came to take away all your sins, as Jeremiah promised, and now he's come, it's been fulfilled. You don't want to reject what Jeremiah said, because the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy was fulfilled in the one sacrifice that would take away, finally, your sins.

Everything you anticipated, everything you longed for, has arrived. You need to see that. So he says this, now, where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin, because there's forgiveness that's now available. There is no other offering for sin that will suffice, nothing. There's no other work that you can do that will gain you appreciation with God. There's no ritual you can go through, no prayer you can pray, no life you can live, that will ever gain the pleasure of God, because there's one sacrifice that please God, and that one sacrifice will set you apart unto God, and declare you righteous before God.

You need to get away from all the things you're doing, as the writer of Hebrews would try to compel them. Listen, you need to move away from all this works-based system. You need to move away from all the symbols, and all the sacrifices, and all the ceremonies. Drop it all, that's all elementary stuff, and come to embrace the Messiah. Lean on Him, depend upon Him, because He is the only one who can forgive you of your sins. I wonder if that's you today. I wonder if you're here today, and you're still trying to do all you can to gain access into God's presence.

You're still trying to gain some relief from the guilt of sin, you can't do it. Only one sacrifice does that, the sacrifice on Mount Calvary, the sacrifice that was a substitute for your sin and for mine. You embrace that, you believe that, you commit yourself to that, because you love the Lord Jesus Christ, guess what? Freedom from the guilt of sin, freedom from the penalty of sin, freedom from the power of sin, and ultimately one day, complete and total freedom from the presence of sin, when you're ultimately glorified, but that's what God has for those who want to give their life to Him.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today, the opportunity you give us to praise your glorious name. We ask that, Lord, you do a mighty work in and among us, that we would be a people committed to the service of our King. If there be one here today who does not know you, may today be the day of their salvation. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.