We were singing that song. It reminds me of Psalm 27, of taking refuge in the Lord. I just had it pulled here and as I Just looking at it. I was taught that last week with the youth. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? And then he continues on, for he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble. What a blessing it is to have you here this morning, Cole, because if not, I would have had to lead, and that would not have been good. So, oh, before Miss Leila's in the back, yes, children, you are dismissed to go to Covenant Kids. You notice that I am not Pastor Brian. He is gone this weekend. A dear friend of his has taken a call at a new church in Florida, and so he has gone for the installation service there to preach parts of that, and so that's where he is. We will continue this morning in our study on Hebrews, Hebrews 10. When I say continue our study, that's slowly what I've been working through as I have had the opportunity to preach. Go and turn to Hebrews chapter 10 We are gonna look at 18 verses this morning. I was talking with somebody this morning. It is a large chunk of verses But as we will see it's divided and really into two sections And you have to preach both of them, right? You can't preach just the way that didn't work or you can't just preach the way that does work You have to do both. And so that's what we're gonna do this morning. And so let me pray for us before we dive into that. Dear Father, Lord, we are thankful for this morning. We are thankful for this time to worship you, to remind it of your goodness and our need for you. Lord, I pray that you be with us as we open and study your word in Hebrews 10, reminded of the perfect sacrifice of your son and the full atonement of our sin. In your name I pray, amen. We have been looking in the book of Hebrews at this dynamic between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Another way we could look at that would be a matter of a shadow and reality. And what we're gonna see here, even this morning, is the author is drawing out one big theme throughout the whole book, and that is the supremacy of Christ. Or maybe another way of saying that is that Jesus is better. that Jesus is better. What's interesting, as we see this morning in this passage, is the author's gonna go even further with that, and that he's actually gonna use parts of the Old Testament to show that this was the plan all along. Actually, there's gonna be two passages in our text that are gonna be drawn from the Old Testament to see that the work of Christ was central to the redemption plan from the beginning of time. So that's what our hope is this morning. Specifically, we will look at the sacrifice of Christ, but ultimately looking at how the work of Christ is central to all of scripture from the beginning to the end. So let's read Hebrews 10, one through 18. For since the law has but a shadow of the good thing 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. Otherwise, would they have not been cleansed to be, ceased to be offered, since the worshipers having once been cleansed would no longer have any consciousness of sin? 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. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me, and burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 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. When he said above, you neither desire nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings, and burnt offerings and sin offerings, These are offered according to the law. Then he added, behold, I have come to do your will. He does away with the first order in order to establish the second. And by that, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered, For all time, a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies shall be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us, for after saying, this is the covenant 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. Then he adds, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. One thing that I think is apparent here in this text is that hindsight is 20-20, that's a phrase. Maybe that we've used a lot, and maybe we'll discuss, well, if things had been this way, well, yeah, hindsight's 20-20. You ever have the thought that sometimes you should have noticed something and you didn't? One of my favorite TV shows to watch is Survivor. Survivor is a show, it's been going on forever. I think it's on season 47 coming up soon. And loosely, There's a retreat that we do every year called Survivor. It's loosely based off of that, except for we don't vote people off. But the show is a reality TV show where they're stuck on this island, they're divided into teams, and they compete in challenges. And ultimately, the last person remaining, the sole survivor, gets a million dollar prize. And so as the game is going on, there's a series of time where they have to Those that don't win have to go to tribal council and vote other people off. And one theme that has been coming along lately a lot is the idea of the blind side. That there may be somebody that's stronger, maybe more apt to doing well in the challenges, and would easily seem to be the one that would be voted off next. Or maybe they're the one that's just annoying, and we need to get rid of them. We can't handle them anymore. But what seems to happen is that there's one person that's the easy vote out, but then someone gets the idea. Well, what if we didn't vote for them, but we voted for this person instead, right? No one would expect it. So there's this twist. They get to tribal council, ready to vote somebody off, and everyone thinks it's going to be this person. What has come to find out is everybody, except for the person that's going home, realizes it's not that person, that it's actually him. And there's a shock, the jaw drops. You're like, what is going on? I didn't expect this. They're completely surprised as they see the votes that are read off. They're the only one that didn't know or didn't see. And as the spectator, as the one watching the show, you're like, it's there all along. How did you not see it? It's exciting also when things are revealed at the last moment of what the contestants were not aware of. Or I think of M. Night Shyamalan movies where there's always a twist at the end. I think specifically with Sixth Sense, right, as you find out that he has been a ghost the whole time. For those that didn't see that, I'm sorry I had to spoil that. Or even in a movie like Fight Club, it's very similar. You find out the story is completely different than what you thought. And when we watch those movies, we often want to go back, maybe it's just me, go back and see if you can notice it. You're like, no, no, there's no way. And you have to go back and to see it. You wonder why in the world I bring up these shows and these movies. Well, I think it connects to our passage in the way that the author of Hebrews has been kind of showing this all along. That there's clear evidence that salvation was not found in the blood of bulls and goats. There's clear evidence as we go back and we study scripture where Christ is evident from the beginning and all throughout the Old Testament. We want to go back and to see it ourselves And as we look here in this text, as it talks about the sacrifice of Christ, it's apparent that God was not happy or pleased with these sacrifices, but rather was focused on the obedience of his people. And now, the author of Hebrews is addressing a very specific group. Those in the New Testament are like, what are you talking about? This is a surprise to us. We don't see that. What are you saying the Old Testament is speaking of Christ? So what the author has been doing in the book of Hebrews is unraveling what the Lord has shown his people throughout history, how it all points to the heart of the gospel, of how it all points to the work of Christ. Why go back to the old way when Jesus is better? that by going back to the works of the law, that it would be a matter of living in the shadows rather than living in the light of the reality of the finished work of Christ. This is what the author's drawing out. This is why I love the book of Hebrews. The excitement and the joy and the hope that there's found in the supremacy of Christ. And so this morning, I've already said something about it before, is that we'll see two parts here. Two points, each of them will have kind of things underneath them. One is why we should not trust in the old sacrificial system, but then why should we trust in Christ? So first, we're gonna look at why we should not trust in the old sacrificial system of the Old Testament. The author draws out two things. The first is that the sacrifices of the Old Testament were a shadow of the reality. We see that in verse one. He actually makes distinction of the shadow and reality's dynamic. There's a shadow and reality that the Old Testament were not the real thing, that it was temporary or provisional. And it's not that the law and the Old Testament were bad or wrong or sinful. The shadow doesn't contradict the reality, but it's not the same thing. This is the relationship between the old and the new. If you were to go into my office, there is a picture of my wife on my desk, and she's in her wedding dress, and I really like that picture, but that picture is not my wife. It is a picture of my wife. It'd be silly if I walked around here, said, hey, would you like to meet my wife? And I just showed you the picture, right? You'd be like, no, where is she? You're like, no, this is her, right here. No, it's a picture. Reminder of her and who she is. That it's not the real thing. That if you stick with these Old Testament sacrifices and these Old Testament ways, that it's not the real thing, that Jesus is better. Maybe there's a reason why we're drawn to the old way is that we're tempted and drawn to it because there's things that we can control and manage ourselves. You think of that specifically with the old sacrifices, it was something that they could check off. Day of Atonement, done, right? Sacrifices, done. Grain offerings given, check those off. But it's not the real thing. And so we see that shadow reality dynamic. The second reason why we should not trust in the Old Testament sacrifices is that it was an imperfect cleansing. We see that in a couple of different ways in the text. First is it's imperfect because it's a continual repetition. The author draws that out as he says that if the Old Testament sacrifices could truly take away sins, wouldn't they have ended? Wouldn't they have ceased? They have to go back to them year after year and year. That the repeated nature of the animal sacrifices show their ineffectiveness as they went back time and time again. Seems like it didn't work. But what the author maybe is drawing out is that the repetitive nature should show us that it was a picture of what to come. Well, maybe the argument could be made that maybe the sacrifices were only to cover for past sins and not future sins. And so that's why they had to keep coming back is because they sinned again and they would have to go back and make the same sacrifices. But perfect atonement is one that cleanses all sin, past, present, and future. One more that deals with our sinfulness rather than those specific sins. So the question that we might be asking ourselves is, didn't these animal sacrifices do nothing? Were they pointless? And even the author draws that out. As he says, no, that they were a reminder of sin, to show people their sin. These Old Testament sacrifices, these Old Testament ways, were gospel-oriented and not works-focused. There might have been a way that they became works-focused for the people, just as much as reading our Bible and attending church and spending time with other people can do the exact same thing, but these sacrifices were gospel-oriented. They were to point the people to live a life of obedience from the beginning when they were first given to Moses. It was never a matter of works or righteousness, of things that we would have to do, of things that we would have to check off. Ultimately pointing and looking forward to the coming Messiah. Another way that they were imperfect is because of a guilty conscience. We see that in verse three, or end of verse two. This doesn't mean that if the Old Testament sacrifices had worked, that we wouldn't remember our sin, or that because of the work of Christ, we don't remember our sin, but that rather, if the sacrifices had worked, then sin would not sit on the conscience to those offering them. Think of it this way, that there always remained the floating guilt of sin because it was not cleansed by the Old Testament sacrifices. They knew that they would have to approach it again. And so there was this consciousness of guilt. It was also imperfect because it was based on the blood of bulls and goats. The author there is very straightforward when he says, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. This was even known within the Old Testament. First Samuel 15, 22 says, does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to feed is better than the fat of rams. We're in Isaiah 1, 11 through 13. The multitude of your sacrifices, what are they to me, says the Lord. I have more than enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened animals. I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and goats and lambs. When you have come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings. Or in Jeremiah 7, 21 through 23, this is what the Lord, the Almighty, the God of Israel says. Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves. For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command, obey me and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you that it may go well with you. See, the ineffectiveness of the blood of bulls and goats shows us a message of the gospel. That every effort, no matter how good it is, that every effort we make is never enough. That we as Christians now aren't turning to or looking at the blood of bulls and goats anymore, But how do we try to accomplish this on our own merit? A matter of being a morally good person. What boxes do we want to check? That those boxes that we check off, the things that we want to do, they are on the same level of the blood of bulls and goats. That we can never fix it on our own. That we need the work of Christ. And so my question to y'all and my question to myself is what are we trusting in besides the finished work of Christ? As we see very clearly here with the author of Hebrews, is that Jesus is better than whatever that may be. Christ is better. And so if we've seen the problem here in the first part, the Old Testament sacrificial system doesn't work, and now there's hope. Starting in verse five, there's hope for the believer. The case on why we should trust in Christ, that why Christ is the perfect sacrifice. And so before we dive into this next point, one thing that I want to draw out or make clear is that this was not something that the Godhead was unaware of. The ineffectiveness of the Old Testament sacrificial system. Not that the Trinity was surprised that it didn't work, but this was the point all along. This was God's redemptive plan for humanity, the redeeming work of Christ on the cross, all the way back to before time at creation in the fall. So why should we trust in Christ? Well, the first reason we see in the text is that Christ offers his body over animal sacrifices. Here in verses five through eight, the author cites Psalm 40. And what's really interesting here is not only does he cite Psalm 40, but he attributes those words to be the words of Christ. If you were to go back and look at Psalm 40, the language is slightly different, but basically the text is the same. Maybe it goes back to that idea of hindsight's 20-20. Yes, this text was written by David, but as we look back at Psalm 40, we can see that these words were about Jesus, that we can hear the words of Christ through the written word of David. That was the intention all along. And what's really fun and exciting for me is that the original audience would have taken the Old Testament very seriously. And so he's drawing out this text, It'd mean a lot to them, and it'd point to them that the Old Testament is also all about Jesus. Luke 24, 27 reminds us of that. It says, in beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. I think of that text as they're sitting there. That had to be an incredible message, incredible time of teaching, but probably also a very long one, right? To go through all the scriptures and how they all are concerning to Christ. And so the author uses Psalm 40, I think, to show the connection to the Old Testament. But that's not the only reason why he uses this text, as there is a focus in these verses on the body of Christ. There's a connection here also to Philippians 2, Five through eight, as it says, have this mind among yourself, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Point here is that Christ was not just a spiritual being, he was not a spirit, but he was a physical human being that gave his own life. Psalm 40 states that God was not interested in the offerings of animal sacrifices, but instead prepared a body for Christ. The author here is insisting on the importance of the full deity and the full humanity of Christ. One author, Edgar Andrews, says it like this, as he emphasizes the importance of the deity and humanity of Christ. This alone can fulfill God's eternal purposes of grace and fully met the sinner's need. It is the righteousness of Christ through his perfect obedience, through his willingness to go to the cross, that was imputed to human sinners for our salvation. It is the work of Christ in which we are saved as we see of his humanity, we see of his body, of the perfect sacrifice, of his perfect obedience. Speaking of his perfect obedience, it's also important to note there in verse seven, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book, that Christ offered himself willingly, See, this is also in contrast to the animal sacrifices. They didn't know what was going on. They were dragged to the temple. They were slaughtered without them knowing what was happening, but that Christ offered himself willingly. Maybe one way we see that the most is back in the garden when Jesus is arrested in Matthew 26, 47 through 56. that Jesus is the one being arrested, yet as we read that text, we see that he is in control the whole time. I don't know if there's ever been an instance like that before, when someone's arrested and yet they're in control of the whole situation. We see that in the healing of the chopped ear, as he reaches down and picks it up and puts it back on. We see of his control and his interaction with Judas, the betrayer. We see it in his interaction with Peter and the way he rebukes him for the things and not understanding of what he's come to do. It was not long before this that they had had the conversation of him being the suffering Messiah. To even the words that are shared, Other than Judas's little line that he says, Jesus is the one that speaks the whole time, to his willingness to be arrested, to go. So they could have brought an army of angels, legions of angels. You go back and look in Kings, you can see what angels can do. how one angel can kill 185,000 Assyrians, and a legion, 6,000 angels, what could they do? So we see of God's power, we see of Jesus' power here, but his willingness to go. Christ willingly went to the cross. There were no complaints to how he was treated, no anger when he was mocked and beat, or even when he was nailed to the cross. that he humbled himself because he had come to suffer and to die for the sins of those that would follow him. The animal sacrifices were the shadow, but the bodily sacrifice of Christ was a reality. Second reason we see that why we should trust in Christ is that Christ, that Jesus, sat down. Seems kind of silly maybe to draw that out, but it's very important for the text that he sat down. Here it draws out, there in verses 11, it draws out that the priest had to stand daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, emphasizing once again the continual nature of the Old Testament sacrificial system. That day after day, the same sacrifices but they couldn't take away sins. So then what was the purpose? Well, Galatians 3 draws that out, 23 through 25. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law and prisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then the law of our guardian until Christ came in order that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. See, the law is rich in understanding God's holiness It's rich in understanding our sin, but also pointing us to Christ. It never means that salvation is dependent on sinful man, or it never meant that, it means that salvation is not dependent on sinful man, but was to point us to the reality in Christ. See Hebrews is showing us this great hope and assurance. As we see there in verse 12, it states that Christ offered a single sacrifice and sat down. See, sitting down is a sign of completion and success, a guarantee of finished work, that the completeness and perfection of Christ's atoning work should be, for the Christian, a continual daily comfort to us. But it's also important to note where Christ sat. We see there, as it says, that he sat at the right hand of God the Father, a position of power and authority and judgment. As he waits, right, until his enemy should be made a footstool for his feet, that he now intercedes on our behalf in the heavenly places. See, what's important to note is the Levitical priests could only enter the Holy of Holies when God told them to enter the Holy of Holies. All of that stuff was set forward and set place for them whenever the temple was built, but that Christ intercedes on our behalf at the right hand of God forever and always. The third reason we see why we should trust and the perfect sacrifice of Christ is that the Holy Spirit bears witness to true forgiveness of sin. We see that in verses 15 through 18. Here, once again, is a passage from the Old Testament, Jeremiah 31. But what's interesting, once again, is it's connected to a work of the Holy Spirit. The first time is connected to the words of Christ. Here is connected to the Holy Spirit, one that's connected to the new covenant. That because of the atoning work of Christ, that Christ or God remembers them no more. That God remembers the sins no more. The author here is not saying that God has amnesia and has just forgotten them. that He knows all things, past, present, and future, but rather He no longer holds us to account for our sins, that the blood of Christ actually atones for sins and gives true forgiveness. That's why we should be drawn to the work of Christ. That's why we should trust in the sacrifice of Christ, is that it actually atones for sin and gives us true forgiveness. There is no longer this floating guilt over us because we know that it's all been laid at the feet of Christ, that it's all been paid for at the cross, and that Christ himself defeated death as he rose from the grave, that the blood of bulls and goats cannot atone for sins, but the work of Christ does. Here in a second, we're gonna sing a song, one of my favorite songs, Jesus Paid It All. as we sing this song or even in the title, that's our hope, right? That's our hope, that Jesus paid it all. Maybe if you had to summarize this text in four words, that would be it. Jesus paid it all. The blood of bulls and goats could not do it. It's impossible for it to do. But that Jesus actually paid it all. It's not that Jesus paid some of it and we have the rest, that it's finished, it's complete, it's certain, that Jesus paid it all, that by the blood of Christ we have been set free, that the debt of our sins fully paid, and that we receive the righteousness of Christ. This is what the author of Hebrews is trying to get across. That's why this text is important for them, back into the original audience, but also important for us today. The debt of sins fully paid, that we receive the righteousness of Christ. That Jesus is better. Stop going back to the old way. Stop turning to things that don't work. to keep your eyes fixed on Christ, that our hope and our rest is found in Him, and not in who we are. And so our sight should be set on the cross, because that is where our hope is found. That is the assurance of our salvation. Let me pray for us. Heavenly Father, as believers, we come to you thankful for the perfect work of Christ, His willingness to go to the cross for our sins, that that is where our hope lies, that is where our rest lies, that Jesus paid it all, for all to Him I owe. Lord, we are thankful for the atoning work of Christ and His willingness to die on the cross that we could have a life now restored with you. Lord, I pray that you would allow us to keep our eyes fixed on you, that we are often times that we will wonder and to fade and to look to other things, but that our eyes will be set on the cross. In your name I pray, amen.