Who is Jesus? Fix our eyes on him!
HE’S THE GREATEST
SACRIFICE (HEBREWS
10:1-35)
Penge Baptist Church
16th March 2014
Last week
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Covenants are God’s agreements with humanity,
seeking to bring us back into relationship with him
The Sinai covenant (law and animal sacrifices) was
to be superseded
Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant….
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“For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new
covenant, that those who are called may receive the
promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a
ransom to set them free from the sins committed under
the first covenant.” (Hebrews 9:15)
….as we recalled in our communion
What God has done for us
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Jesus chose to do the Father’s will
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Therefore, when Christ came into the world,
he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not
desire, but a body you prepared for me; with
burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not
pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written
about me in the scroll—I have come to do
your will, O God.’ ” (Hebrews 10:5-7, from
Psalm 40:6-8)
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“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire…..
with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were
not pleased.”
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“[the law] can never, by the same sacrifices repeated
endlessly year after year, make perfect those who
draw near to worship…. those sacrifices are an
annual reminder of sins” (Hebrews 10:1,3)
“a body you prepared for me”
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“Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of
the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).
Here they crucified him” (John 19:17-18)
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Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about
me in the scroll
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“But he was pierced for our transgressions,he
was crushed for our iniquities; the
punishment that brought us peace was upon
him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
(Isaiah 53:5)
I have come to do your will, O God.’
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“He went away a second time and prayed,
“My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to
be taken away unless I drink it, may your will
be done.”” (Matthew 26:42)
Our blessings from his sacrifice
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Made holy
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“And by that will, we have been made holy through
the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all.”(Hebrews 10:10)
Free of sin
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“when this priest had offered for all time one
sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of
God…The Holy Spirit also testifies to us…I will put
my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their
minds.” (Hebrews 10:12,15,16)
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Made perfect
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“by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever
those who are being made holy” (Hebrews
10:14)
Forgiven forever
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“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember
no more.” And where these have been
forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for
sin. (Hebrews 10:17-18)
Our response – the right way
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Our confidence
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“Therefore, brothers, since we have
confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by
the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way
opened for us through the curtain, that is, his
body” (Hebrews 10:19-20)
Our worship
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“since we have a great priest over the house
of God, let us draw near to God” (Hebrews
10:21-22)
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In drawing near to God we need (10:22)
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with a sincere heart
in full assurance of faith
having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us
from a guilty conscience and
having our bodies washed with pure water
Hold on to hope
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Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we
profess, for he who promised is faithful.
(Hebrews 10:23)
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Encourage one another to do God’s will
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Be a community of faith
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And let us consider how we may spur one another on
toward love and good deeds. (Hebrews 10:24)
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the
habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and
all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews
10:25)
Take inspiration from our own struggles…and
those of the persecuted church
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Remember those earlier days after you had received the
light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in
the face of suffering…. you sympathized with those in
prison (Hebrews 10:32,34)
The wrong response – a terrible
warning
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There is no sacrifice for deliberate sin…
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If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have
received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for
sins is left (Hebrews 10:26)
…and especially not for disowning our Lord and
Saviour
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How much more severely do you think a man
deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of
God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing
the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and
who has insulted the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews
10:29)
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We have a holy and just God who will one
day judge all humanity
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For we know him who said, “It is mine to
avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord
will judge his people.” (Hebrews 10:30)
And those who reject him risk eternal
separation from him in hell
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only a fearful expectation of judgment and of
raging fire that will consume the enemies of
God (Hebrews 10:27)
It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of
the living God (Hebrews 10:31)
Let’s respond the right way to
Jesus’ sacrifice!
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“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be
richly rewarded.”
“let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience
and having our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,
for he who promised is faithful.”