Let us take our copy of the scriptures and turn to Hebrews chapter 10. We'll read verses 5 through 7 and 11 through 20. Hebrews 10 verse 5. Therefore, when he comes into the world, he says, sacrifice an offering thou hast not desired, but a body thou hast prepared for me. In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I have come, in the role of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God. Now verse 11 through 20. And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 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. For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness 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 upon their mind I will write them. He then says, in their sins and their lawless deeds, I will remember no more. Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he inaugurated for us through the veil that is his flesh. The word of the Lord. Let's pray together. Oh, Heavenly Father, there is none like you, oh God, like the God of Israel, who rides the heavens to our help and through the skies in his majesty. The eternal God is a dwelling place, a refuge, and underneath are the eternal arms. We think, O Lord, having read this portion of Scripture and reminded, we are reminded of what is said by the Spirit of you, O God, through your prophet Isaiah. The people who live in a dark land will see a great light. A child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders. He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. We think again of what the Spirit of you, O God, declared through your prophet Micah. He has told you, O man, what is required to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly before you, O Lord. This, left to ourself, we acknowledge before you, O God, is impossible, but in you, By the Lord Jesus Christ, he has done all those things, so we worship you and call upon you by faith, looking to him who has done everything for us that we could never do. So we praise you and thank you. Give us hearts and minds to understand what is to be preached, and give to the one preaching the guidance of the Spirit of you, O God. As he has prepared the word, may you lead him. In Jesus' name, amen. For the title of the sermon this morning, New Covenant Worship of the Eternal Son. You know, just saying the words Jesus Christ is not a guarantee that one has the biblical Christ. What I mean by that is that God reveals him in his truth and through his sacred scriptures. And so, in other words, our faith must be in the truth of the gospel, the true Jesus Christ, the one who is described and explained and called upon here in Holy Writ. We hear so much said today by those who would call upon the name of Jesus Christ, but define him in ways where he is not God, where he's not the second person of the Holy Trinity. Of those who would think of him as one who is not fully God and fully man, fully human. of one who had a human nature, a sinless one, grant you, but a human nature, a true body, a reasonable soul. And when you're looking at these matters, we need to have the right Jesus Christ, especially as one approaches the Christmas season, so-called, that it is, you know, something that's on the lips of many people, and yet the one that they speak about They don't really know much about. And so as we look here at the descriptions and the call to worship and to believe in the Jesus here described in Hebrews chapter 10, may we be equipped, our faith equipped to declare him a right to others, but also that our own faith may be clarified. And we may understand the things of the Lord here proclaimed in this portion of scripture. And so I'd like for us to begin, first of all, of God's word of revelation and redemption in the sun. God's word of revelation and redemption in the sun. Revelation meaning to expose or reveal or explain. That is to say that which is not understandable or not knowable apart from God sovereignly and divinely revealing these things to us. Secondly, the idea of redemption. Redemption means that many things, but first of all, it's related to the point of those who are in bondage. For example, the scripture speaks of our slavery to sin, apart from Christ, and bondage or dominion to death. It speaks about how we're in bondage to the curse that is God proclaimed after the fall, et cetera. And redemption is the freeing of the slaves, just like the exodus. The freeing of the slaves by payment of the redemption prize. And in the process, by the way, those who are freed now have a new master. A different kind from the tyrannical master of darkness and sin and death. But our master, one who died in our place, that he might free us and buy us unto himself. And so let's look at verse five and following and look at the volume of the book. Speaking of the Bible, the volume of the book is about the son. In verse five, it says, therefore, when he came into the world, he said, sacrifice an offering you did not desire but a body you have prepared for me in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure then I said behold I have come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do your will Oh God when it's talking about the volume of the book translated that way it's talking about the corpus or the complete Entity that is the book that is the scriptures that the all of the scriptures are about Jesus Christ The first of all we have here in verse 9 and we haven't read it, but it says here in verse 9 He said behold I've come to do your will O God he takes away the first that he may establish the second and so we're thinking here in terms of covenant promise and fulfillment and We don't have time to develop it in length. We will touch on it again in a moment. But the whole point here is the old covenant or the old, that which is preparatory for the new covenant, the everlasting covenant, is all that comes forth from the first promise made after the fall in the garden. All of you know this one in Genesis 3.15. There the Lord actually says this to the serpent. right after the fall, when Adam and Eve were exposed for their sinfulness, and he says that the seed of the woman will develop out in another week or two. Normally you would say the seed of the man, but here it says the seed of the woman shall crush the head of the serpent." The serpent, remember, being the one that led into, by temptation, into death, led into the bondage of sin, led into everything that were the miseries of the fall, and the consequences of the fall, and the curse, et cetera. It says that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. The head, in other words, would be a death blow to him. But in the process, the seed of the woman would have a bruised or wounded heel. And so starting from there, you have the promises of one who would come as a savior. I went through this briefly in Sunday school. And that is the idea of God's covenant promise. He made, you know, that the seed of the woman, they assumed it would be Abel, Abel killed by his brother Cain, and then Seth, the replacement for him. And she even said, the Lord has given me another man, you know, referring to that promise. And then later on, when the sin had escalated and expanded and deepened, and the horror of it exposed in the world, and God, remember, sent a man who is born, and he was named, this is the one who will deliver us from this, a deliverer, a savior, Noah. And so Noah was the one who you see that he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And here's a man who was upright in his generations. And so as you know the whole account of the flood, here God has him build this ark of salvation and a carpenter, right? And an ark of salvation. And here only in that ark of Noah's was there salvation from certain destruction. Only Noah and the members of his family, the seven members of his family, came along. His wife, three sons, and each of their wives came into the ark. Well, here Noah was a picture of one who would be a savior. Here is the seed of salvation through the covenant promise. God renews His covenant, gives a sign of the rainbow in the heavens. And you have, it goes on in the Tower of Babel event and all the sin, you know, they say, we'll make a name for ourselves. Sin spreads on the nations of the earth, are formed, you know, by families and language. And then God calls another man, Abram, out of Ur of the Chaldees, and he says, through you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. And then he reiterates that through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and he goes on and gives them the sign of circumcision, of procreation, that would ultimately lead us to Messiah. And the covenants made at each step of the way were really about leading us to the covenant, new covenant, and the everlasting covenant made before time and carrying into eternity future. So every time you go through the whole Bible And God says, I shall do. I promise. And he preserves. And he has this godly remnant that he preserves through history. And he's got there the righteousness that's demonstrated in the Mosaic covenant, and the exodus, and all of the sacrifices, showing how God looks at sin and satisfies his own justice for sin. a priesthood, the mediator, and all of that that's required in a temple God's dwelling in the midst of the people, he comes to heaven a king. A king who would be over the people in that same line, David's line. And finally ending, look at the first verse of Matthew. I mentioned that in Sunday School too. What does it say? The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of Abraham, the son of David. making the point that all of this covenant unfolding in the Old Testament, covenant of grace, as many would say, that this leads us to Jesus Christ. And so with Jesus Christ came the new covenant. This meal is even called, Jesus said, it's a new covenant in my blood, right? With the cup. And so as we have the new covenant, we'll look and see how all of this fits together. The book, about Him. If you were to look in the history of redemption, this ultimate redemption, look with me at chapter 1. It's in your bullet, your sermon notes, 1, 1 to 3 of Hebrews. It says, God at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, but has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, upholding all things by the word of his power, still speaking of the son, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. And so, beloved, we have, it's about Jesus Christ. and the history of redemption. You look, for example, in John chapter 5, you know, there in verses 37 to 39, you know, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees, and they say, you know, that they're looking for Messiah, and Jesus says, you search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. But he says, they are that which testify of me. The Scriptures, the Old Testament, they're about me, Jesus said. After the crucifixion and the resurrection, in Luke 24, verses 44 and following, there Jesus appears in that upper room to his apostles. They're afraid. And he appears to them. And suddenly they realize he's risen. And it says Jesus opens up their understanding. And just like he had done in a brief moment with the two men in the road to Emmaus, here with his apostles even greater, with the law and the prophets and the writings, he opens their understanding to see how he is the fulfillment of it all. And he says, you're my witnesses. And I'm sending you to preach this gospel to the ends of the earth until the end of the age. And so this is the message. 1 Peter 1, remember we've read this before in verses 10 to 12. I won't go through the whole thing of having you turn there. But you see there that Peter is there talking about the revelation that was given by God in the Old Testament, the Old Covenant. And he said that God was there You see these prophets who didn't fully understand their own writing because God had given them by divine inspiration. And so as they're studying it, trying to determine what man and what time all of these things would be fulfilled, it says that the spirit of Christ was at work in them to write these things in the Old Testament. Oh, we love it. It's we could go on, but you get the idea. In other words, it's progressive revelation. It goes from God starting simply and then expanding, and he gives pictures types with the priesthood and with the temple or tabernacle, and with the sacrifices, and the feast days, and the land that they would occupy. And there God's fruitfulness and blessing dwelling himself in the midst of the land, in his holy city, in his holy temple, and blessing his people. and giving them his righteousness, and ruling through a mediator king that he would have over them, and being mediated by the salvation by a mediatorial priest. And so these he has as king-priests, both of which Christ fulfills, and all the rest of it too. And so these types and these shadows lead us to the fulfillment. Look with me, if you would, in verses 9 and 10 and 12 and 14, etc. Follow with me, if you would, in verse 9, here in chapter 10 of Hebrews. He said, Behold, I have come to do your will, O God. He takes away the first, what I was just describing, that He may establish the second. That is to say the new covenant. This is introduced to back in chapter eight. I can't go through it, but he says, not like the covenant I made with them of old, where I'd led them by the hand and led them out of Egypt into the wilderness under myself. But I will make a new covenant with you and we'll describe that in a minute. But you see, he takes away the first to establish the second. And so you'd read on with me, if you would, in examining this unity. And in verse 10 of chapter 10, but by that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Now get what it's saying. You got to slow down. We don't have time to slow down much. So you have to reread it later if you really want to get the best out of it. You reread it slowly and take every single word. He says he has sanctified us. You know what sanctified means? Set apart, wholly unto God. And so by his own blood and righteousness, by fulfilling the inactive obedience, fulfilling the will of God, he has caused us to be, remember redemption? We're bought with a price, therefore glorify God, etc. And so we are sanctified unto God. We're His. We are the body of Christ. We're the bride of Christ. We are the children of God. We are the family of God, etc. We are set apart unto Him. It says that through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, So it was through that sacrifice that Christ, in his blood, on that cross, that he set us apart unto God. And it says one other thing there of note, and that is at the tail end of it, it says, once for all. not a sacrifice to be repeated time and time and time again but once for all in the if you think of history going all the way before the creation of the world into eternity at a new creation you see that here on that cross Between the two poles of history was Christ nailed to that cross as a sacrifice for sin, the Lamb of God, the atoning goat, the atoning sacrifice, the propitiation, et cetera. There he was on that cross and saying, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And so we are set apart once for all in Him. Look also with me if you would at verse 12. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down at the right hand of God. Notice that one sacrifice here in time. This is why he inaugurated, brought in the new covenant, and it cannot be superseded. It cannot be advanced upon. This is the arrival of the ultimate in Jesus Christ. I'll talk about why I mentioned that in a moment. But he says here that we are eternally, notice again the wording, that he says the sacrifice for sins forever. He sat down at the right hand of God. Why would he do that? You see it elsewhere in chapter 10. It says that Christ, having offered a sacrifice once for all, came in and sat down. When you made atonement, normally the high priest would go in once a year. make atoning sacrifice, offer it in the Holy of Holies, back out until next year, and the following year, the following year, the following year. Jesus entered into the holy place. Remember what the Holy of Holies represents, the throne room of God. It says, here he sat down. Where? At the right hand of God. You read in chapter 9, verse 14, that ultimately the sacrifice was made between the persons of the Godhead. In 914, it says Christ is the sacrifice, that Christ is the priest that offers the sacrifice himself, and that it's through the eternal spirit, the Holy Spirit, that he offers the sacrifice unto God the Father. And so it's an inner Trinitarian type sacrifice. So he went in and sat down at the right hand of the Father. The right hand was the one through whom everything was done, the mediator. He sat down. Why sat down? It's finished, once for all. And so, you would never do that in the priesthood in the Old Testament, but Christ fulfilled and did so. In verse 14, it says, for by one offering, here again, by one offering, he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Beloved, it's extraordinary. By this one sacrifice of Christ, we are perfected forever. Notice all of these things that have an everlasting or eternal consequence. It says that we've been sanctified in verse 10 through the offering of Christ once for all. Verse 12, it says that we have a sacrifice for our sins forever. Our sins are atoned for forever. And so here in verse 14, it says that we are perfected forever in Jesus Christ. And then finally, in verses 17 and 18, He says, their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more. Where there's remission for these, there's no longer an offering for sin. All of it is said to be done through Jesus Christ in verses 19 and 22. He is the one who is the new and living way that is through the body of Jesus Christ. And so you see, beloved, the new covenant in Jesus Christ, in chapter 12, it talks about the heavenly Jerusalem, present tense, where Jesus is, we call this the intermediate state in heaven. When Jesus comes again the second time, he says, the new heavens and the new earth will therefore then take place. This one will be consumed with fire. Read 2 Peter 3. And there as you see it, it says that Christ comes and there's a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. And there in that everlasting beautiful state, we remember that all of that perfected forever is because he died once for all time on that cross. And the new covenant You see it said here, he remembers our sins no more because of Christ. So anyway, as we think of this, in chapter 1, remember where I was reading in Hebrews 1? You thought I forgot. In Hebrews 1, verse 2, I just wanted to bring this out where it says, in these last days, He has spoken to us in His Son. Notice the wording, in these last days. I hear so much about it. In the last days, well, I know what they mean, at the end of the age, in other words. But here it says, and by the way, in Acts 2, remember what it says there in Acts 2, from the right hand of the Father, where Jesus Christ poured forth His Spirit, which you both see in here, it says, this is that which is spoken of by the prophet Joel, that in these last days He would pour forth His Spirit on all flesh. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 11. It goes through all the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and it says there that talking about the types of the Old Testament fulfilled in Jesus Christ and in 1011 of 1st Corinthians it says that we are those upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 26 talks about that once for all sacrifice. And it says there that Christ now, once at the end of the ages, has put away sin by the offering of himself. Once now at the end of the ages, beloved, we are living in the last days. It was inaugurated with his first coming, and it will be brought to its ultimate consummation in his second coming. And so Christ came and fulfilled in the end of the ages. God sovereignly purposed and accomplished it in eternity. That's the next thing I want you to know. God is the one who purposed it. Look at verse 7 once again there. In verse 7 at 10, Behold, I've come in the volume of the book that's written of me to do your will, O God. It was God's will that purposed this. God who caused this to be so. God who planned it. God who directed it. Remember in Acts chapter 2 in that great Pentecost sermon. You have there Peter preaching and he says, God attested to Jesus Christ with many signs and wonders. And it says there that you, by the hands of wicked men, have put to death, keep reading, according to the predetermined purpose and foreknowledge of God. It says the same thing in chapter 4 of Acts, pretty much, verses 27 and 28. God is the one who ordained that that would take place. Yes, the sinful deeds of humans was used as a means to accomplish that end. Nevertheless, it was according to the purpose that Christ would be fulfilling all things for us. Well, let me hurry. The sovereignty of God. Look with me at verse 16. as you see God describing things. In verse 16, notice he says, in verse 16, a covenant I will make. And he goes on to say, I will put my laws, speaking of God. Thirdly, he says, I will write them in their hearts. Fourthly, I will remember no more. Notice in those four things, in one verse, God is saying, I will. In Hebrews chapter 6, It talks about the covenant promises of God. And there it says, because God could swear by no one else as he swore to Abraham, he swore by himself. It says men normally swear by one greater than themselves. There is no one greater than God. So two things were there on the line, he says. God cannot lie. Why? He's holy. And secondly, God cannot change. And so God swore by himself. And as you read through that chapter, you know what you find at the very end of chapter 6 and verses 19 and 20. It goes on to say, but we, you and I, in that Holy of Holies, remember the Day of Atonement, you and I have an anchor of our soul is Jesus Christ, who is our anchor within the veil in the Ark of the Covenant. He is the New Covenant. Well, the popular belief, the popular teaching nowadays, I'm talking about how it's the idea of these types of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every sacrifice looking to the blood of Christ that would be sacrificed as a substitutionary atonement for us, that would propitiate for our sin. Every time you see the priesthood, you see one who's mediating behalf of sinful people. unto God and forgiveness and calling unto God in their behalf. Or you see a king who's ruling on behalf of these people. Or you see a picture of the people of God who are redeemed by the Lord, and you see redemption that's in Jesus Christ. Or a promised land that this one, like Moses, would lead into a promised land. Jesus Christ is the one who leads you and I into a promised land. You say, wait a minute, really? Yes. Read Hebrews 11. Read that part about the new creation I was talking about. We don't get some desert land that's always worrying with famine. Every believer of all time, Old and New Testaments, we inherit a land overflowing with milk and honey, so to speak. It's a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Many have been confused and they thought they were talking about some earthly golden age where you would see the wolf lying down with the lamb or the lion lying down with the ox. And you see of the adder and that kind of thing with the hole and putting your hand on it. No, it's talking about the new creation. It says there'll be no night there, that this will be the blessing of God. Well, that's the idea of what we teach and what we believe, that the covenant promises of God are yes and amen in Christ, 2 Corinthians 1.22. that all of these things are fulfilled in Him, that the people of God, Jew and Gentile, are one, that God, as it says in Ephesians 2, the Lord Jesus Christ, by the blood of His cross, has broken down the partition between Jew and Gentile and made both one, that we are the temple of God, that we are one in Him. It says in Galatians 3.16, talking before that, of children of Abraham, and it says, children of Abraham, Those who have faith in Christ are children of Abraham, figuratively speaking. It says the seed of Abraham, singular, is Jesus Christ. Those in Christ by faith, in union with Christ, these are the children of Abraham. It says in Ephesians 2.11 and following that all the promises of God, these covenant promises, we are one time aliens, strangers from the covenants of promise. We who are far off, we were talking about a moment ago. that we too now are heirs according to those covenant promises. Well, there are those who would think that there will be a time after, well, okay, what are we saying? The Bible is Christ-centered, Christ-centered. There are others who would say it's Israel-centered. And see, what we're saying here is the Bible is about him. He's the key. in the new covenant that he brings in and fulfills. And when we think of the promised land, it is a land that's everlasting, not one that's only for a brief period of time. There are those who would think that wall of partition that Christ has torn down will be re-erected. And the prominence of Israel, for example, will be those who are the centerpiece of all things. Well, a great remnant of Israel will be saved, but that does not mean they become head of the church or head of the world. And here's the key. Of everything I've done, don't miss this part. Because this is the popular view. I understand that. I didn't say it was right. I'm saying the popular view, the other view. And that's this. The belief that there will be a re-emergence, a re-institution of sacrifices in the future. That is very dangerous. You know, it says the only reason that Christ went to the cross was some, in the old version anyway, the reason the cross happened was because Israel rejected their king and therefore went to the cross as though it's an afterthought. No, it's the centerpiece of it all. And to say to redo the sacrifices, everything it's saying here is you've done away with the first to establish the second. Hebrews 13 20, it is the everlasting covenant that we're part of in the new covenant. And so I, I wish I had more time to develop this, but my enemy has told me to stop. the clock, in case you're wondering who I'm talking about. But as we think of this, beloved, let me just warn you a couple things the Bible says in Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 6 talks about it's like crucifying Christ afresh and putting him to an open shame when one would reinstitute the sacrifices because as we've read to you time and time again here, he died once for all. for all eternal blessings. And so to reinstitute it, as it says in chapter 10, oh, it talks about it in horrible terms. In verse 26 and following, it says, if you willed, sinful, willed, oh my, sin willfully in the first covenant with Moses, it says there were dire consequences. If you rejected the law, verse 29, how much worse punishment do you suppose? Will he be thought worthy who trampled the Son of God underfoot and counted the blood of the covenant by which he, that is Christ, was sanctified a common thing and insulted the Spirit of grace? And so, beloved, we will wrap it up here. But I want to return to this text next week and talk about what this text in Hebrews 10 tells us about who Jesus is, about His natures, human and divine, or what it talks about with Him with regard to time. But let me just leave you with this thought before I quit. Jesus Christ, the one who is this eternal one who made everlasting atonement for you and me, who redeemed us with his own blood, who sanctified us, and we'll look more at that new covenant of what that means for our sanctification next week. As we consider all of that, Look at yourself, and I look at myself in terms of time. The older I get, the more time seems to just be fleeting at a rapid rate. There was a time where I was the age of some of you youngsters, and I thought, oh, 30 minutes? It was an eternity. Any of you ever felt like that? You probably do right now. Now, I say, it's almost 2025? How did we get here? You see, beloved, you think of this eternal work of purpose of God here in the history of redemption that Christ accomplished. And there, when he went to the cross for every single believer here, there he sanctified, set you apart. and made atonement for you for all eternity. And God remembers your sins no more because of him. That's the bottom line of the new covenant. And so we look at time and we say, I set it apart unto him. Next week, I also want to talk more about new covenant worship. We will all little about this supper in a moment. But let's now close in prayer. Heavenly Father, as the word of you, O God, has been opened and preached, may all of our hearts and our minds be peeled back to understand more clearly that the Lord Jesus Christ, His sacrifice once for all time, for all time. So we pray that you might place upon our hearts and our minds that the time that we have left in this life, moving forward, is into eternity. We have that eternal inheritance because of the Lord Jesus Christ. But, O Heavenly Father, if there be any of us who have wavered and questioned and not believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. If any of us have not trusted Him, O Lord, as Ezekiel said when he saw the vision of the Valley of Dry Bones You asked him, can these bones live? And he says, oh Lord, you knowest. And he told him to prophesy. And the dry bones came to life. And that is, any of us who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we were once dry bones that you brought back to life. So we praise you and thank you. If there be no anybody who has not, may today be that day of salvation. And you raise them from the dead. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Now receive the benediction of the Lord. Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you what is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.