Oakbrook Evangelical Free Church

Living According to the New Reality
Ed Riddick, August 22, 2010

Introduction:
“This is my Bible. It is the truth. It is living and active.  It judges my thoughts and actions. If I follow it I will never walk in darkness.
I am who it says I am. I have what it says I have.
Today I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess that my mind is alert and my heart is open. I will never be the same. In Jesus name, Amen.”

Contrast between two realities…
“For since the law has but a shadow of the good things 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

~ Which would you rather have? Pic of chocolate covered or
Read a cookbook or eat a good meal?
Look at the pictures of vacation places or go on a vacation?

That’s in effect what Hebrews is saying about Christ.  How could you ever think of going back?  Christ is the real deal!

The OT worship center with its animal sacrifices, the priesthood even the many promises all foreshadowed the reality fulfilled in Christ.

Romans 15:4
“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” NIV

Matthew 5:17–18 (ESV)
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” ESV

The living arrangement under the OT could never do for believers what Christ has done.

Question:    As you reflect a bit, what is the center of your life?
Where do you spend most of your discretionary time?
When your mind disengages in what you are doing where does it go?

I.          A Willing Sacrifice, 10:1-10
“For since the law has but a shadow of the good things 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. ² Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? ³ But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. ⁴ For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.   (Psalm 40:6-8)

⁵ Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,

but a body have you prepared for me;
⁶ in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. ⁷ 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.’ ”

⁸ When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), ⁹ then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

A willing sacrifice!
Christ sacrificed his life for us willingly.  It was not an impulsive commitment by Christ made only after he saw human suffering.

It was planned and deliberate.  He came to lay down his life!
These animal deaths were unwilling!  Unconscious – unknowingly.
Animals vs God himself!

A God-approved dealing with sin had to be of a willing, wholehearted obedience which God desires in all sacrifices!

1 Samuel 15:22 (ESV) And Samuel said,
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

Isaiah 1:11–14 (ESV)
“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD;  I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts;  I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.   “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts?  Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me.”

Amos 5:21–22 (ESV)
“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them.

Hear me: God has never taken delight in routine performance of worship or gifts or service!  He felt that way in Genesis, the Gospels and today!

II.         A Complete Sacrifice, 10:11-18
“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. ¹⁴ 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,

¹⁶ “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,”   (I shall be their God and they shall be My people – intimacy)

¹⁷ then he adds,   “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

¹⁸ Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Repeated sacrifices indicate their inability to remove sin.
“For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

The good things to come … make perfect the sinner before God…
sin and its effects totally removed

There were no chairs in the tabernacle!
The priests were never permitted to sit –their work was never done!  Their sacrifices were repeated day in and day out.

But Christ made his sacrifice once for all
Hebrews 7:27 “He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.”

Hebrews 9:7,12 “but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people…he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

Hebrews 9:26–28 “for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Hebrews 10:2,10 “Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?…And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

then he sat down!   Hebrews 1:3 (ESV) “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Hebrews 8:1 (ESV) “ we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven “

Hebrews 12:2 (ESV)  “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God”

First, his work is done!
Second, his work is so effective that it guarantees to perfection of all those who are being made holy.

~ The total forgiveness of sin
~ The regeneration of the spirit (born again)
~ The progressive change into Christlikeness: an accomplished fact and a progressive process!
~ The resurrection of the glorified body of every true believer!

The OT priesthood, the types of the OT tabernacle with its cleansing rituals and animal sacrifices and dietary limitations all found their completion in the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The new covenant is now in force for all who truly believe.
“The old has gone, the new has come!”  2 Cor 5:17

Question: If you could have access to someone famous whom would you choose?

III.        A Sustained Call to draw near, hold on and actively participate! The practical implications of the cross-centered life

^“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

In view of all that Christ has accomplished for us
1.         Let us confidently draw near to God in worship
2.         Let us hold onto our confession of faith
3.         Let us help one another by meeting together regularly for encouragement!

Sequential
Connected! – Worship…persistent faith…active,
Corporate

1.         Let us confidently approach God in worship
Confidence to enter vs. apprehension and uncertainty!
Not all the people – only the high priest.
Not all the time – only once a year
Not in any way – only a certain way  (robe with bells and a rope)

To Moses
Exodus 3:5 “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground”

Exodus 33:13–15 (ESV) “Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.”

Hebrews 9:14 “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

But those who’ve been cleansed within have free access to the holy presence of God.  The door is open to the very throne of God!

Let us with confidence enter his presence!
Freedom of access….Freedom of speech
A new and living way:
New = it did not exist before until He opened it up!
Living way = “I am the way, the truth and the life” John 14:6

In the death of Christ, God himself is unveiled to us.

No need to hide from his presence. We have an open invitation to come through the open door. I ask you the same question I ask myself, “Relatively speaking, why, oh why do I so often go it alone?  Why do I so much of the time not draw near to him?

Our confidence is not in who we are or what we’ve done.

Our confidence is in the blood of Christ as sufficient payment for our sin and in His ministry as a great high priest!

1 Peter 3:18 (ESV) “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God”

So, how’s the “drawing near” going in your life?
~ What are you doing to draw near?
~ Do you have a tendency to “go it alone”?

2.         Let us hold onto our confession of faith

Are you growing in your faith?

1 Tim 1:18–19“This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son… that you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.”

1 Tim 6:20–21 “O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.”

2 Timothy 1:14 “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”

2 Tim 2:15–18 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of s”

3.    Let us help one another by meeting together regularly for

What would keep them or us from active participation?
~ Busyness: the margins filled in with “stuff”
~ Laziness: bedside church
~ The attraction of the world.  Note the patterns! “as is the habit”
~ Pressure from the world!  “All the more as you see the day of his return draw near!”
~ Pride – no one does it the right way.

You dare not stand alone!
This is a call for you and your family to take a stand!

“As for me and my house we will serve the Lord!”