God's Word, turn with me to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, verses 11-14. If you're using a Bible provided for you in your seat, this is page 1006, Hebrews 10. Hear now the Word of the living God. 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 should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." This is the word of the Lord and we say, thanks be to God. Please be seated. Let's pray together. Almighty Lord, Triune God, we pray that now you would bless your people in the clear proclamation of your Word. Strengthen our faith, we ask. We pray for the Spirit's aid both in the preaching and in the hearing of the Word. We pray that you would crush our doubts. We pray that you would strengthen our focus on the Christ and help these words from the pages of Hebrews. Be with us this entire week long as we consider the glories of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Well, if you've been following our catechism week in and week out, members here, you get an email each week, but also we print it for you. There has been a long segment for several weeks on the Lord's Supper. And tonight is the final week where the Catechism speaks to the Lord's Supper in some way, but really tonight, as you'll notice, it's less about what the Supper is, in the first question, and more about what it isn't. And I want to focus your attention tonight, it goes without saying that the writers of the Catechism thought that the Lord's Supper was very important. But I want to focus your attention to question number 80. And some of you might even recoil at some of the words that are listed here. They're not meant to be hateful or contrarian to Roman Catholics. And yet at the same time, they are meant to boldly proclaim what Christ has done and what the Supper is not. Question 80. What difference is there between the Lord's Supper and the popish mass. In other words, what occurs in Roman Catholic practice. Here's the answer. The Lord's Supper testifies to us that we have full forgiveness of all our sins by the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which He Himself has once accomplished on the cross, and that by the Holy Ghost we are engrafted into Christ, who with His true body is now in heaven at the right hand of the Father and is there to be worshiped. But the mass teaches that the living and the dead have not forgiveness of sins through the sufferings of Christ, unless Christ is daily offered for them by the priests. And that Christ is bodily under the form of bread and wine, and is therefore to be worshiped in them. And thus the mass at bottom is nothing else than a denial of the one sacrifice and passion of Jesus Christ and an accursed idolatry." Well, they didn't mince words. And at least in a charitable way, neither should we. You recall that we've spent several weeks together looking at the Lord's Supper and what it is. Even this morning we gathered around the Lord's table and there was a proclamation of sins forgiven. Tonight I want to look at why we say that what we do at the Lord's Supper is not the Popish, the Mass of the Roman Catholic Pope and his followers. but that the Lord's Supper is a celebration of the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ. Looking at Hebrews 10, keep in mind the idea of priests offering the Mass continually in the hope that, quote, there would be continual offerings for the sins of the people. Hear the writer of Hebrews. Every priest stands daily at his service offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. This is of course the Old Testament priesthood that the writer of Hebrews is referring to. The priests in the Old Testament celebrating sacrifices and sacrifices and sacrifices until Christ would come. And the writer of Hebrews says in verse 12, 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 should be made a footstool for His feet. And then, Christian, take comfort in these words tonight. For by a single offering, He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. So is the sacrifice of Christ once for all? Or is it a one-time event that continually needs to be represented over and over and over through the act of priests today? I would contend that the writer of Hebrews, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us the answer. That there is, number one, a final priest. A final priest. The sanctuary furniture in the Old Testament tabernacle included a table, a lamp, an altar of incense, the Ark of the Covenant, but no chair. The posture of the priest year after year was that of standing to offer sacrifice. So it might seem like a kind of passing detail, but when the writer of Hebrews says in verse 12, when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice, He sat down. This is truly a detail of finality. Christ is the one who sits. And when he sits, he sits at the right hand of God as the final priest. The writer says, every priest stands. The tense here signifies ongoing continuous action. Year after year after year, the Levitical priest would make their sacrifice. They would do it standing. And then the next year for the Day of Atonement, once again, the whole thing would ensue. And of course, we know that this pointed to the person and work of Christ. But the writer of Hebrews the recipients of the letter to the Hebrews to understand that Christ is not like every other priest. He doesn't stand to make a sacrifice expecting to make it again. Nor does He need emissaries to keep presenting that sacrifice down through the ages as if Christ has to be continually offered or presented because sins need to continually be atoned for. No, the writer says, he sat down. The tense here is in a different tense than when it says every priest stands. There it's in a tense signifying ongoing action. Here, you can pick it up in English. It's in a completed action tense. He sat down. And notice the location of Jesus' seat. The right hand of God the Father. The place of honor. The Old Testament priests performed a once a year duty and could not take the people with them. Jesus makes it so that we can spend all the time in the world in God's very presence. So, the first thing we see from Hebrews 10 verse 11 and 12 is the final priest. So when we come to the Lord's table, yes, there is a sense in which church-sanctioned officers should preside over the Lord's table. But I in no way am a priest, unless you mean we are all priests. as children of God. I am in no way lifting high elements and causing them to change from bread into the flesh of Christ and wine into the blood of Christ. Rather, Christ is spiritually present with us, but there's nothing new about this sacrifice. For He sat down, the final priest. This is one of the reasons why if you pay attention to theology, but also to practice, if you as a Protestant go into a Roman Catholic. Building. and the priest there knows that you are a Protestant, technically, you would not be allowed to come to the mass. And I would encourage you without causing any of you who may have done this in the past to feel guilty, that if you were to attend a funeral or a wedding or some kind of service where there's a Roman Catholic mass, they are not practicing the Lord's Supper. and humbly I would contend we need not go. For the popish mass is not simply just doing it a different way with a slightly different theology. No, the writers of the Heidelberg get it right. There is the understanding that Christ is now physically present in the elements and is needed to be daily offered For these people by the priests, we need not participate in any kind of picture of an ongoing necessity for Christ's work to continually be perfected. Because what does the text say? Verse 14, for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. So not only do we have a final priest, we have a final perfection. A final perfection. Look at verse 13, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he's perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Turn with me to Psalm 110 for just a moment. Psalm 110, verse 1. Psalm 110, verse 1. This is the Psalm of David, but it's ultimately pointing to Christ. Psalm 110, verse 1. The Lord says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. We had all the time in the world tonight, we have a separate sermon in Psalm 110 verse one. The Lord, Yahweh, if you notice the capital letters, says to my Lord, who's writing the Psalm? Well, David. So David says, Yahweh says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies. And the text continues. This is one of many Psalms that points to Christ. You see, the victory of Christ ensures that all enemies will be placed under His feet. Our text in 1 Corinthians 15 says what the final enemy is. Death. 1 Corinthians 15.26. So not only is Christ the final priest, He's the final perfection of all things. Let's focus on that then in verse 14. Verse 14 is a glorious verse to the believer. But it brings with it, perhaps, at least on the surface, maybe a challenge in understanding what it's saying. How can we, believers in Christ, saved, converted, regenerated followers of Christ, how can we, quote, be perfect and still be in the process of becoming holy? Look at the verse closely. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. So how can we be perfect and yet be in the process of sanctification or becoming holy or being set further and further apart into the image of the sun? Let's look at the two phrases quickly. The word there, perfected. is in a tense signifying completed action with ongoing effects. You don't see that as much in English, no matter what your translation is. There's the reality of difference in language. For by a single offering He has perfected, meaning He's done it and there are ongoing effects. A completed action, yet with ongoing effects. He's perfected for all time. But then it says, those who are being sanctified. They're in the process of an ongoing thing that's happening outside of them. Incidentally, this word is also used in Hebrews 2.11 when the text says, For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin. Friend, the sacrifice of Jesus ensures our perfection even as we are being sanctified. We touched on this this morning, but you and I are in the process of being conformed into the image of the Son of God. We're growing in holiness. We're mortifying the flesh and living, or as the old writers used to say, being vivified. We are coming alive more and more and more to obedience. And yet, Christ's offering for sin has perfected us. Our standing, our identity is complete, but our sanctification is ongoing. Biblical commentator Donald Guthrie says it this way, Sanctification is received, but not yet achieved. I think that's a good way to say it. Sanctification is received, but not yet achieved. And we could spend a little time here tonight, we won't, other than to say we do have work as Christians. We do participate in this sanctification, but God is the one who sanctifies us. Friend, do you understand what all this is saying? It's saying this about you, if you're in Christ today. You already stand perfect before the Lord, even as you grow in the process of being made holy. Let me say that again. You stand, this very evening, before the Lord, perfect, even as you are in the process of being made holy. You see, Christ is the final priest, but Christ has brought in the final perfection. So you might be thinking, well, I know what you mean, Pastor, and I hear you, but is it all that much of a deal? I mean, the Roman Catholics do their kind of Lord's Supper thing the way that they do it, and we kind of do it the way we do it, and everybody kind of does it a different way, It would kind of be uncharitable if we went to a funeral or a wedding for a friend, which I'm not saying you shouldn't do, and didn't go forward when the Mass was offered. But friend, you and I can't actually say what they're saying. We can't actually attest that there is an ongoing sanctification and an ongoing perfection of our standing before the Lord. Can you say that? Can I say that? We can't say that. We can't participate in something. which is in essence saying there is more perfecting of the people of God to do. The sacrifice of Christ has been offered and now it needs to continually be proclaimed in a way that implies that it's not singular. No, we cannot go. We cannot go. And it's not that the writers of the Heidelberg Catechism are being mean. But if you say that Christ's sacrifice is not enough, that is false religion. And if it's false religion and we participate, it's idolatry. Question for another day, but feel free to go to a friend's wedding. Go to a funeral of a friend or a coworker. Just know that what they're doing is not what we're doing when we come to the Lord's table. And it preaches a different gospel. Because Christ is the final priest, he's the final perfection. For by a single offering, once for all, he has perfected those who are being sanctified. I don't know how well you can wrap your mind around this tonight, friend, but at the selfsame time you are in the process of growing in holiness. You are also forever declared perfect in Christ. You're standing before the Lord as one of perfection. Why is that? Second Corinthians 521. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. The reason that you're standing before the Lord is one of positional perfection. It's because you're standing before the Lord is not in you. It's in Christ. It's Christ's record. It's Christ's presence. Continually at the right hand of the Majesty on High. Continually pleading His own merits. His very presence in heaven is a sign that the sacrifice was once for all. And that all those who are united to Him by faith will never, ever, ever have to die for sins. So even the Heidelberg Catechism says, if Jesus died and took our hell for us, why do we die? You know what the Catechism says? Not that our death is a payment for sins, but a passageway out of sinful living and into glory. There is no more exacting to be done for your sins. And you don't need to come to a table So that Christ might in some way be seen as bearing your sins again. Christ is not bearing sins now. He's interceding on behalf of His finished work. So the writer can say, for by a single offering He's perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Christ our Lord, the final priest, and the final perfection. But lastly, he's the final sacrifice. Look at verse 15. 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, 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. Now our time is fleeting, but please don't miss the gravity of this, Christian. I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. And then the writer of Hebrews picks up after quoting from the Old Testament and says, where there is forgiveness, of said sins and lawless deeds. There's no longer any offering for sin. What's going on in our text? Well, briefly, the writer quotes from Jeremiah 31, verses 33 and 34. And notice in verse 16, he kind of gives a picture of sanctification. This is the covenant that 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. They will know me in a way It's different, but verse 17. It's sort of a picture of justification, isn't it? I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. Boys and girls, Pastor Ryan is reading from the New Testament, but the New Testament writer is quoting from the Old Testament. This was written hundreds of years before Jesus actually was born in Bethlehem. God's plan all along was to send Christ so that our sins, boys and girls, if we are in Christ, will never be remembered again. God will forgive. He will take away all judgment and penalty for these things because Christ would take it in our place. So our sanctification happens out of God's work in writing His law in our hearts and minds. Your sanctification, Christian, is a process of constant living out of what God has written on your hearts. and your minds with a constant remembrance of your continued and complete standing before God in your justification. So let's close there tonight. How could we in any way say, whether it be at a table with bread and wine, out on the street with our lives, how could we in any way say that Christ's sacrifice needs to be added to? It needs to continually be practiced. It needs to continually be undertaken or at least represented by a priest. As if to say, there isn't yet full forgiveness of sins. No. The writer of Hebrews knows nothing of the Roman Catholic Mass and its practice. The writer of Hebrews is saying something to us that's scandalous. You and I are in the process of growing in holiness, falling, failing, repenting, being restored into right relationship with God over and over and over as children of God. We're in that process. And at the selfsame time, the Christ who was crucified for you, who was raised on the third day, is present and is present at the majesty of God on high, and His very presence is your perfection. There will never be a day, Christian, now or for all eternity, where God the Father will look at God the Son and say, More is owed. And so, we can take our place of those growing in holiness, repenting of sin, humbly feeling sorrow for our sin, and yet at the same time, hearing the words of the gospel read and proclaimed and sung week in and week out here in this place for by a single offering. It's been done. He has perfected. It's been done for all time. Those who are currently being sanctified. And he says the plan all along, verse 17, is that God will remember their sins no more. And writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the writer says, verse 18, where there is forgiveness, there is no longer any offering for sin. There's no more offering to be made. Verse 17 tells us sin is forgotten. And in verse 17, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. The tense here is a future. God says it will continue to be that their sins will be forgiven. So when we think of the Lord's Supper, we are less likely in our context in the 21st century needing to deal with Roman Catholics. Many of you have friends that are Roman Catholics. We should love them. We should seek to honor them as God's image bearers. But we are much removed from the days of the Protestant Reformation where one by one Christians and true believers were coming out of this kind of understanding theologically. And yet sometimes the lesson of history is important. Because for us, for many of us, our Popish Mass is not that we go to a Roman Catholic service and have to wrestle with the theology. No, for most of us, that's not going to happen. Our Popish Mass is when we do not, in our thoughts or with our minds, think that the sacrifice of Christ is sufficient. That, for you and I, is our Popish Mass. So when those thoughts come to mind, and you see your sin, say, begone, devil. Say, begone, mind that convinces me of something that is not in the text, because my Lord Christ was the final priest. I need no more. My Lord Christ was the final perfection. I need no more. And my Lord Christ was the final sacrifice. And so when the thoughts come, and they enter in, and they tell you there is something more that must be done, you say, all I can say to you, thoughts, all I can say to you, Satan, are three words that my Lord said. It is finished. And so all of your Lord's Supper and practice of baptism and preaching and living and hoping is not based on a Christ whose sacrifice is yet to be complete. It's based on a Christ who sat where no other priest sat. He sat down and made a single offering for sin. So the question really for you tonight, friend, is not the theology of the Lord's Supper here, but it's the theology of the Gospel in your own heart and mind. The theology that comes when you sin and fall, when you think about your own past, or when conscience rightly comes to you and points out your sin, conviction of the Holy Spirit, will you say, like Judas, there can be no hope? Or will you, like Peter, have an interaction with the Christ, where you see the hand outstretched and you hear the words, perhaps, of Hebrews chapter 10, Verse 14, my child, my brother, my sister, for by a single offering I have perfected for all time you who are being sanctified. Let's pray. Almighty God, may it be that your people do find comfort in the Lord's table. But would you, in ways where we may go astray, correct us that our Lord's Supper gatherings every other week are not a celebration of an incomplete sacrifice which needs to be continued or tweaked or re-offered or represented week after week, but rather it is a feasting on a finished work. Lord, for the Christian in the room who is doubting, would you shore up their faith as they look to Christ and see not an incomplete Savior, priest and sacrifice, but a final and complete one. And Lord, this week, even this very week, we pray that if your will allows, that the words of Hebrews 10, 14 would wash over our hearts and minds. By a single offering, Christ has perfected each of us, for all time, who are being sanctified. Lord, may we gaze at the cross this very night and not see work to be done, but finished work to proclaim. I pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.