Sermon #45 Hebrews
Notes
Title: Perfected!
Text: Hebrews
10:14
Subject: Sinners
Made Perfect by Christ
Date: Tuesday
Evening –
Tape # W-027b
Introduction:
Someone said, “The Old Testament is the New
Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.” In
the Old Testament believers anticipated that which the Lord would do, believing
his Word of promise. In this New Testament age believers rejoice in that which
the Lord has done, believing his Word of grace. Let me show you an example of
this. Turn to Psalm 38:7-8. Here is a believer in the Old Testament speaking in
confident faith about that which God promised he would do.
Psalm 138:7 Though I walk in the midst
of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against
the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
Psalm 138:8 The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
Now, turn to Hebrews 10:14. This will be
our text. Here we see a believer in this gospel age looking back to the
finished work of Christ and declaring in the joy of confident faith what the
Lord has done for him and for all who are his.
Hebrews
In the Old Testament, the believer’s faith rested on
the promise of God and the work of Christ as things unseen. His heart hearts
yearned for God’s salvation as an inheritance yet in reserve. Today, we look
upon the same thing, trust the same Savior and the same work; but we possess
God’s salvation as a thing accomplished. It is true,
there is a very real sense in which we yet look to the future, confidently
hoping for God’s salvation, because we have not yet experienced the fullness of
it. (Oh, what that will be!) Still, we do possess it now in Christ. Our
redemption has now been obtained by his blood. Righteousness has been brought
in. Our great Savior has made an end of our transgressions. These are not
things we hope for, but facts. They are things we now possess by faith in
Christ. – “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever
them that are sanctified.”
I have been turning this text over, and over, and
over in my mind, and praying about it, and looking into it, and seeking
illumination from the Holy Spirit for years. This is one of those verses my
mind just keeps going back to every day, countless times in a day some days. I
love to roll it around in my soul like a good piece of candy in my mouth. It is
one of those texts I just like to mull over. The more I think about it, the
bigger it gets. Every time I open one of its doors I see another.
Proposition: Here the Holy Spirit declares that our Lord Jesus Christ has, by his
one offering for sin, perfected all God’s elect and perfected them forever.
Divisions: There are three things in
this verse which just jump out at you as you read it.
1. An Offering Made
2. A People Sanctified
3. A Perfection Accomplished
I. An
Offering Made
The Book of Hebrews has constantly shown us that the
work of Christ as our sin-offering to God was a work done but once. This
emphasis is made throughout the Book to teach us forcibly that the sacrifice of
Christ was an effectual sacrifice, that our Lord Jesus Christ has by his one
great sacrifice as our Substitute accomplished everything he intended to
accomplish by his death. Look what this Book tells us Christ accomplished
by his one offering.
·
By his one offering, the Lord Jesus Christ has purged our sins.
Hebrews 1:1-3
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past
unto the fathers by the prophets, ---[2]--- Hath in these last days
spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by
whom also he made the worlds; ---[3]--- Who being the brightness of his
glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the
right hand of the Majesty on high;"
Hebrews 7:26-27 "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."
·
By his one offering, the Lord Jesus Christ has obtained eternal
redemption for us.
Hebrews
·
By his one offering, the Lord Jesus Christ has put away our sins.
Hebrews 9:26-28 "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.
---[27]--- And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after
this the judgment: ---[28]--- 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."
·
By his one offering, the Lord Jesus Christ has perfected all
God’s elect.
Hebrews 10:12-14 "But 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."
II. A
People Sanctified
Our text speaks of all God’s elect as a people who
are sanctified. What does this mean? I have shown you many times that God’s
elect are sanctified by the work of God the Father in election, the work of God
the Son in redemption, and the work of God the Holy Spirit in regeneration. Let
me show you briefly what the Scriptures teach about this thing called
“sanctification.”
A. All believers are sanctified
(1 Cor.
There is no such thing as an unsanctified believer.
If we are saved, we are saints. If we are not saints, we are not saved. This is
exactly what Paul told the Corinthian believers.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 "Know ye not that the
unrighteous shall not inherit the
B. Sanctification is altogether
the work of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ.
Our sanctification, like our
redemption and justification, is the work of God almighty in the trinity of his
sacred Persons. We are sanctified by God the Father in election, by God the Son
in redemption, and by God the Holy Spirit in regeneration. Sanctification is
not something we do for ourselves. It is something God does for us and in us.
The words “sanctify,” “sanctified,” “sanctifieth,” and “sanctification” are
used more than thirty times in the New Testament. We are said to be sanctified
by the purpose of God, by the blood of Christ, by the Spirit of God, by faith
in Christ, and by the Word of God. But never, not even once, are we said to
sanctify ourselves. Sanctification is the work of God alone.
1. Sanctified by God the Father
in Eternal Election (Jude 1)
All
believers were sanctified by God the Father in eternal election, set apart for
him by God’s decree, and separated unto him (Jude 1:1).
Jude 1:1 "Jude, the servant of Jesus
Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father,
and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:"
This is the character of
God’s distinguishing grace. -- It sets some people apart from others and
sanctifies them unto the Lord. Grace makes men to differ (1 Cor. 4:7). We were secretly
set apart for God in his secret, eternal decree of election
before the world began. We were legally set apart from Adam’s
fallen race by the purchase of Christ at
Every believer has been, in
this sense, eternally sanctified, completely set apart by God and for God. The
practical importance of this glorious doctrine is this: -- That which has been set apart for God ought never be used for common purposes again. “Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with
a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are
God’s” (1 Cor.
2. Sanctified by God
the Son in Redemption
All
of God’s elect were perfectly sanctified by the blood of Christ when he died as
our Substitute (Heb.
1 Corinthians 1:30-31 "But of him are ye in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption: ---[31]--- That, according as it is
written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
We have been and are forever
“sanctified in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor.
1:2). Believers are addressed throughout the Epistles as “saints,” that is as
“sanctified ones” in Christ.
This is what I want you to
see and rejoice in: -- In the Lord Jesus Christ we who believe are regarded by
God as perfectly holy, treated as if we were perfectly holy, and declared to be
perfectly holy, because in Christ we are perfectly holy! We do no believe in
imputed sanctification any more than we believe in imputed justification. We
believe in imputed righteousness, by which we are both justified and
sanctified. The righteousness of Christ has been imputed to us; and we are by
his righteousness both justified from all things and declared to be holy. Sanctified, in the sight of God.
“With
His spotless garments on
I am as holy as God’s Son!”
3. Sanctified by God
the Holy Spirit in the New Birth
All
believers are actually made holy by God the Holy Spirit in regeneration. Through the instrumentally
of gospel preaching, the Spirit of God effectually applies the blood of Christ
to the hearts of God’s elect, purifying our hearts and implanting a new, holy
nature within us. This is regeneration, the new birth. This is our
sanctification by the Spirit (2 Thess.
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 "But we are bound to give thanks alway
to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and
belief of the truth: ---[14]--- Whereunto he called you by our gospel,
to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."
2 Peter 1:4 "Whereby are given unto us
exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust."
1 John 3:9 "Whosoever is born of God
doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because
he is born of God."
1 John
Someone once wrote, “We are a people with two natures, one that is holy and seeks after righteousness, and one that is corrupt and seeks after sin. However, these two natures are not equal in power. The divine nature rules and reigns; but the evil nature will not bow nor serve.”
While we live in this world
we must continue to live with this old, sinful nature. But we do have a new
nature created in us, in the image of Christ, a nature that cannot sin. It is
the old man that sins, not the new. It is written, “Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that
dwelleth in me” (Rom. 7:20) In
glorification the old man shall be totally eradicated from us, but not until
then. That eradication of the old man is not a gradual, progressive thing. It
is the radical, climatic change experienced by God’s saints in death, and
ultimately in resurrection glory.
Understanding that sanctification is
altogether the work of God, the work of God’s grace, it is obvious that there
is no such thing as “progressive sanctification” taught in the Book of God. Believers
grow in grace, but not in holiness. We grow in faith, but not in righteousness.
There is no sense in which our sanctification depends upon us. It is God’s
work.
C. Let’s look at this text in
its context.
The Son of God, by his one offering for sin, has
perfected forever them that are sanctified. What does that statement mean in
this context?
In the ninth chapter the Apostle spoke to us
about the tabernacle, the candlestick, the table, the shewbread, the sanctuary,
the golden censor, the ark of the covenant overlaid
with gold and the pot of manna. In other words, he has been talking to us about
priests and priestly things, -- holy things.
All these things were sanctified things, -- holy things.
However, though they were sanctified, holy things, they needed to be made
perfect. They had to be sprinkled with blood to be made perfect. Granted, those
things were only ceremonially sanctified and ceremonially perfected. But the
ceremonies were designed of God to show us something. They were intended
to teach us what sanctification is in a very practical way.
There were certain golden vessels used in the sanctuary which
were never used for anything else but the service of God. They were set apart,
made holy, and kept strictly as vessels of the sanctuary for service of the
Lord God. They were sanctified things.
There were specific, chosen men who did nothing else but
wait upon the Lord. They were consecrated to their offices. God chose the tribe
of Levi, and out of the tribe of Levi he chose the house of Aaron. These men
were chosen, and then they were prepared by divine order for their work.
They underwent specific, divinely ordained
ceremonies and washings, and were thereby made ceremonially holy. These priests
were ceremonially sanctified, because they were set apart, dedicated and
reserved to the special service of the Lord God.
That is just what you and I are, and what we ought
to be.
If we are God’s, we are sanctified men and women. We are chosen by God to be
the peculiar vessels which he will use in performing his work, in pouring out
his mercy to his people (Eph, 3:8; 2 Cor. 4:7).
Ephesians 3:8
"Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace
given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of
Christ;"
2 Corinthians 4:7 "But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of
us."
We are the people God has chosen and sanctified by
whom he is served, by whom he does good to chosen
sinners in this world.
Now watch this -- No man had the right to use the
things of the sanctuary for himself. If he did so, he did it to his own
destruction. — Ask Belshazzar.
He took the cups, the golden candlesticks, and so
forth, and used them in his debauchery and pleasure. When he did, he was swept
away ion God’s wrath. The handwriting on the wall foretold his doom.
So it is with us. We are not to be used (or to use
ourselves) for anything but for God. We are people a set-apart; we are vessels
of the Lord’s house. We are not for the devil’s use, the world’s use, or our
own use. We have been made, chosen, and set apart for our Master’s use!
That is what is meant in this text by “sanctified.” We are sanctified people,
set apart for God’s use, consecrated to God, just as the vessels, the cups, the
candlesticks, the tables, and the altars of the sanctuary, were sanctified unto
God and set apart for his service.
We are priests, sanctified to God, not because of
any holiness in ourselves. Some of those priests were downright scoundrels; but
they were priests nonetheless. Hebrews 10 does not deal with the matter of our
character. —Hebrews 10 is talking about our position in the sight of God. We
are not perfect in character. — We are only perfect in position. More about
that in a minute.
We who are God’s are sanctified, sanctified, to
offer spiritual sacrifices unto God through Christ. WE have no right to do anything else but
serve God. God has made us kings and priests unto him in Christ, a royal
priesthood, a people whose whole and only purpose in life is his service!
III. A Perfection Accomplished
Our text speaks of all who are God’s as a people perfected, a people whose perfection is a done deal.
Hebrews
What on earth does that mean? Just this. When the
golden vessels were brought into the temple or into the sanctuary, they were
sanctified the very first moment that they were dedicated to God. No one dared
to employ them for anything but holy uses. But they were not perfect. What
did they need, then, to make them perfect? Why, to have blood sprinkled on
them; and, as soon as the blood was sprinkled on them, those golden vessels
were perfect vessels, officially perfect. God accepted them as being holy and
perfect things, and they stood in his right as
instruments of an acceptable worship.
Just so was it with the Levites and
the priests. As soon as ever they were set apart to their office; as soon as
ever they were born, in fact, they were consecrated, they belonged to God; they
were his peculiar priesthood. But they were not perfect until they had
passed through divers washings, and had the blood
sprinkled upon them. Then God looked upon them in their official
priestly character, as being perfect before him.
They were not perfect in character, I repeat, they
were only perfect officially; perfect in the sight of God; and they stood
before him to offer sacrifice as acceptably, as if they had been pure as Adam
in Eden.
How does this refer to us, and what is the meaning
of this text, that “by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are
sanctified?” Turn back a moment or two. You will find in the 9th
chapter of the Hebrews, at the 6th verse, -- “Now when
these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first
tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. 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.”
The only way the high priest himself could
come before God and be accepted was by blood atonement. In the context here,
the Holy Spirit is telling us that we are made perfect (“It shall be perfect
to be accepted!”), by the blood of Christ, made perfect before God himself,
so perfect that we may freely and boldly come to God by the blood of Christ
with full assurance that we are accepted.
Hebrews
To be made perfect by Christ is to stand
before God Almighty himself accepted in the Beloved, accepted by blood!
·
The Blood of the Lamb Slain from the foundation of the World.
·
The Blood of the Lamb Crucified at
·
The Blood of the Lamb Sprinkled upon Our Hearts in Grace.
Application: This is our standing and our position in Christ. We enjoy it now by
faith in him. But, blessed be God, soon, this shall be our experience.
Psalms 138:7-8 "Though I walk in the midst
of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against
the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. ---[8]--- The LORD will perfect that which concerneth
me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine
own hands."