Sunday Morning Service 10:30AM-"The Ministry of Christ" Hebrews 10:1-18 ~ Pastor Ryan Nichols

If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. It's good to be back. It was a good trip down to the beach. As it turns out, I am a beach bum. I kind of enjoy that a great deal. I'm not a pool person. There's a difference between people that like pools and people that like oceans. Have you ever noticed that? I'm an ocean person.

My wife is a pool person. So, normally, she's the fun one in the water with the kids while I sit on the side of the pool and go, ooh, that water's too cold. But you put me in an ocean and I become a small child diving into waves and waiting on the boogie board just for the next wave to come and take me in. So, I've decided, I told my girls. This is what we need to do.

Since we can't do that in the ocean in Kansas, because I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but there's no oceans in Kansas. What we need to do is we need to sit in the pool and bob up and down and say, there's a big pipe coming off the outside. And I think that's what we're going to do for the rest of the summer. Every afternoon, we're going to be in the pool doing that.

So, but it was a good time. And it's good to be back. I had a couple of great guys fill in for me. The beauty of what we have with the online is that we got to watch both services and still be plugged in while we were away. But it was a good time. But today, we jump back into the book of Hebrews. So, to build a little context, since I've been gone for a while, to build a little context, let's talk about what we've been discussing in the book of Hebrews up to this point in time.

We said that the Jewish believers were struggling at the point in time in which this was written. They were struggling with persecution. And they were facing persecution from the Roman government. But they were also dealing with the fact that they had been rejected by the Jewish community because they were now following Jesus. And because of that, some of them were being tempted to defect.

To go back. To go back to their old Jewish roots. To go back to religion. To leave behind Jesus. And to go back into the law. And so, the writer to the Hebrews has written this to encourage the believers to stay strong in their faith and to keep going, even though sometimes it's difficult. Because, after all, Jesus is so much better than anything that you can ever return to.

And this is true for us as well. Whether it be wanting to go back to some form of religion or whether it be wanting to go back to a sinful life that we previously lived. Jesus is so much better. And so, we put an overall theme on the book of But We See Jesus. And there's a handful of things that he's done for us up to chapter 10 in the book of Hebrews. Number one, he told us that Jesus is better than the angels.

Angelic worship is something that was an issue within the Jewish community at that point in time. And Jesus showed them that though the angels were the messengers that brought the law, Jesus is so much better than the angels. And then he said Jesus is so much better than Moses. The Jewish people at that point in time saw Moses as their leader of the faith. And they put him almost on a pedestal that he did not deserve to be on.

And so, Jesus pointed out that while Moses gave you the law, the law ultimately came from God. And Jesus fulfilled the law that Moses gave. And so, he's so much better than Moses. He pointed out that Jesus has a far superior priesthood to the high priest. Because Jesus is a high priest forever. And he's able to take away sins for all of eternity. And what we've been talking about is that Jesus has a far superior ministry.

That the ministry of Jesus is better because it has a... Better sanctuary because it has a heavenly reality. It has a better covenant because it's a new covenant based not on the faithfulness of man, but on the faithfulness of God. Jesus has a better ministry because he has a better tabernacle. A tabernacle that is not the shadow that dwells here on earth, but the reality that dwells in heaven.

And what we'll talk about today is that Jesus was a better sacrifice. So, picking up in verse 1 of chapter 10, it says this. For the law... Only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually, year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered?

Because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats... For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats... to take away sins. Therefore, when he comes into the world, he says, Sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me.

In whole burnt offerings and in sacrifices for sin you have taken no pleasure. And I said, Behold, I have come, in the scroll of the book it is written of me, to do your will, O God. After saying above, sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have not desired, Nor have you taken pleasure in them, which are offered according to law. He said, Behold, I have come to do your will.

He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 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... But he, having offered one sacrifice... But he, having offered one sacrifice...

For all time sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until his enemies be made his footstool for his feet. For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, This is the covenant that I will make with them, after those days I will put my laws upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them. And he says, And 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. And so as he gives us this section on a better sacrifice, there's two things I want you to take note of that we're going to look at this morning. The first thing he's going to tell us about is he's going to tell us about the shadow of the law. The second thing that he's going to tell us about is the substance of Christ.

The shadow of the law, the substance of Christ. So the first thing that we'll talk about is the shadow of the law. And he starts off in verse 1 by saying, For the law. Now I want us to understand what he means when he says that. He's not only talking about the Ten Commandments, which is often what we think of when we think of the law. He's not just talking about the Ten Commandments because that is God's righteous standard.

It is not only the picture of his righteousness, but his righteous standard for us. But when he says the law, it's an all-encompassing statement that also includes all of the sacrificial system within the law. You see, God knew that man would ultimately fail in their ability to keep the Ten Commandments. So he provided sacrifices for them to cover their sin until the arrival of Jesus.

That sacrificial system is also called the law. So when he talks about the law being a shadow, he's talking about the full counsel of the law. Not only the standard of the Ten Commandments, but the sacrificial system itself. He says, For the law has only a shadow of the good things to come. And not the very form of the things. It's interesting because this is the second time he's used this illustration that the law is a shadow.

That the law simply indicates that there is something greater that's coming behind. I shared this with you a few weeks ago, but I'm going to do it again. Partly because my daughter's not here and she's not listening. But second of all, because it's a great illustration. When my oldest daughter played soccer, I helped coach her. That's right. They asked me about the World Cup this year, but I said,

You know what? I'm going to stick with the four-year-olds. So I coached her in the soccer. And she was such a phenomenal little athlete that her favorite thing to do when she played soccer was to watch her shadow. She would run like this and she would stare at her shadow. And it's a beautiful shadow, right? Because it indicates the reality of her. But wouldn't it be wild if I also started looking at the shadow and going,

Oh, isn't she so beautiful? Look at that shadow. Oh, there's her shadow right there. No, that would be strange. Why? Because the shadow is the indication of a reality. The shadow is sometimes a little bit distorted. It's not very clear. It doesn't matter. It doesn't give a perfect picture. But it indicates that there's something real behind it. Everybody following me so far?

That's what the law was. The law was an indication of a reality. Another great illustration I heard was from a pastor that I listened to named Lloyd Pulley. He said, I have this picture of my wife on my desk in my office. And it's a picture of her right after we started dating. It's one of my favorite pictures of my wife because it brings back all of those wonderful memories of when we started dating.

He said, but can you imagine if my wife walks into my office, and here's this picture, and my wife walks in, but all I can do is look at the picture and not at my wife. That would be a ridiculous thing because the picture, which is her image, her shadow is sitting right here in front of me while she is standing right next to me. That's what happens when we think that the law is what can save us. He says the law is a shadow, not the very form of the things.

He says for the law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very form of the things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. The sacrifices that are offered over and over and over again can never make us perfect. This word perfect is a very interesting word in the Greek here because the word perfect here means to make complete. To make complete.

And the idea is this. The law was always an incomplete law. An incomplete work. The law for the children of Israel was always incomplete because it never could completely do everything that Jesus was able to do. And can I tell you that in your life the same is true. Anything that's not Jesus in your life is always going to be an incomplete work. Your church attendance is wonderful,

but the substance is found in Jesus. Reading the Bible is wonderful, but the substance is found in Jesus. Trying to be a good person is wonderful, but its substance has to be found in Jesus. Anything that's not Jesus is always going to be an incomplete work in your life and will always leave you feeling like you've never done enough. Because apart from Jesus,

listen, you'll never do enough. And so he says, the law, having a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form, can never make perfect those who draw near. Notice what he says. He brings the logical conclusion. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered? Because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would have had no consciousness of sins.

He says, if that was enough to make you perfect, if a sacrifice was enough, you wouldn't have to keep doing it. You wouldn't have to keep offering it over and over and over again. And this is the problem that many of us have in trying to make ourselves right before God. In trying to trust in my ability to do something good is that I'll never feel like I've done enough, so I have to come up with the next list of to-dos, the next list of things that I can do, because I'm always going to be looking for another sacrifice for my sins.

I'm always going to be looking for another thing that I need to be doing to be made holy until I totally understand that it's completely solved in Jesus. He says, if that were true, they would have ceased the offerings because they would have been cleansed. And listen, there would have no longer been a consciousness of sins. What does he mean by that? He means that there would no longer be a guilt of conscience

that they lived with every single year. See, every year they had to keep offering another sacrifice. Why? Because they became aware of the sin in their life, and so they needed to make themselves right before God again, so they had to bring another sacrifice. There was continual guilt of sins. Notice what it says in verse 3, that in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.

Can you imagine living in Israel at that point in time? Living under a covenant that said you have to continue to bring another sacrifice. Every time you mess up, you've got to come and bring a sacrifice again, and you're never sure if it's enough. You're always hoping that you've done enough, that your heart is right enough before God in this sacrifice that you've brought, because there's a constant reminder of your sins year by year.

Can I tell us all something? As believers in Jesus Christ, that's exactly what the enemy wants us to live with, a constant reminder of our sins. He wants to just keep bringing the same stuff up over and over and over again. We'll discuss this again in just a moment, but I want you to think that's what the enemy does with us, is he just keeps bringing the same things back up.

And so there's this constant reminder because the law was only a shadow. It says this, For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. That word impossible, that word impossible means, hold on, I lost my place here. That word impossible means, cannot take away, there it is. The word impossible here means unable to be done, unable to be done.

Literally in the Greek, what it means is a weakness or a failure. That's what the word impossible there means. It is not able to be done. In other words, there is no sacrifice that we as humans can make that will ultimately take away sins. He says, that is an impossibility, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. We move into verse five.

Therefore, when he comes into the world, he says, sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me, and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sins. You have taken no pleasure. And then I said, behold, I have come in the scroll of the book. It is written of me to do your will. Oh God, after saying the above, sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offering and sacrifices for sin,

you have not desired. Nor have you taken pleasure in them which are offered according to the law. He said, I have come to do your will. As we move into verse five there, he gives us a free translation from the Septuagint from Psalm 40, verses six through 10, Psalm 40, verses six through 10. It's really important to pay attention to because what he does is he tells us that God no longer has a no longer has pleasure in the sacrifices that man was making.

And it's interesting because throughout the Old Testament, we see this to be true. God consistently says, I'm kind of getting tired of your sacrifices. I'm kind of getting tired of the fact that you bring me these sacrifices, but there's no real heart behind it. He says, sacrifice and offering I have not desired. Instead, a body I have prepared. This is speaking of the Messiah.

The Messiah is the body that is prepared for us because he is the sacrifice that would be prepared. And as he explains this to us, he says, after saying the above, verse eight sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings you have not desired. He said, behold, I have come to do your will. He takes away the first in order to establish the second. I want to point out one thing to you.

If you look at verse five again, it says sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me. There's an interesting play on words that takes place there. If you were to look up in your Bible right now, Psalm 40, you would find that this is not how it's translated, how it's translated. Instead of saying a body you have prepared for me, what it actually says is my ears you have opened.

Now that's because what the book of Hebrews is quoting from is a Greek text called the Septuagint. Follow me on this little bit of theology here. Okay. When the children of Israel returned from their Babylonian captivity, think book of Ezra, Nehemiah, the use of the Hebrew language was almost completely dead. And so they have all of that. And so they have all of these old Testament writings,

all of the law that's written in Hebrew. Only they have a bunch of people that speak Greek because that was the current language of the time. And so they found themselves going, we need to make a translation of scripture that is going to be understandable to the people. So 70 scholars got together and they put together this Greek translation of the Hebrew old Testament called the Septuagint.

And something's got translated just a little bit differently. And one of them is in this place. In Psalm 40, my ears, you have opened in the Hebrew, but in the Septuagint, it says a body you have prepared. And you kind of go, those feel like two very different statements. Can we all agree with that? That feels really weird that those are two different things.

Until you understand a little bit about a Hebrew idiom. I'm gonna explain one more thing here to you. Okay. Ready? Everybody still with me? Shake your head if you're with me. Okay. All right. Good. Just checking. According to the law, if you, as a human being, were to go into debt to someone, you couldn't pay that debt. What you would do is you'd become an indentured servant.

And you would go into servitude for six years. You'd have to be set free on the seventh year. But for six years, you would become a servant to that individual. So let's say you owe me money. Perfect. You would then come and live in my house. And you would work for me for six years without paying. That would pay off your debt. Everybody with me so far? Now, if you come in as a single man,

and while you're there, you're provided with a wife. And as it turns out, the guy that you're working for actually becomes more like a father figure to you than he does a master to you. Then at the end of that six years, in your seventh year, when you're to be set free, you can say, I love my master. I love his family. And he's given me a wife. I want to stay on as his servant,

not by force, but I want to stay on as his servant according to my own free will. I am now a slave by choice. In the Old Testament scriptures, we call that a bond slave. And so what they would do is they would take you to the doorpost and the master would take an awl and he would pierce your ear with an awl and he would put an earring in there showing that you are a bond slave.

What they called that was the opening of the ear. Because that was you saying, I am a slave by choice because I love my master. So when it's talking about the Messiah here, he says, sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared. You have opened my ear. I am a willing sacrifice because I am a servant to my master, the father, and I love my bride,

the church. I am now a willing sacrifice for that. It's pretty cool, right? And so he says, you have to understand the law was insufficient. God no longer wanted those sacrifices. So he provided a new sacrifice for you. It was for himself, which was Jesus Christ. He said, verse nine, then he said, behold, I have come to do your will. He takes away the first,

the shadow of the law, so that he can establish the second, the substance of the Messiah. Everybody with me? Perfect. Which brings us to the substance of Christ. Look at verse 10. By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. It's interesting. There's three points he'll make under the substance and they will all involve the word one.

The first thing I want you to take note of is it says once for all. He says, by this will, what will is he talking about? By the will of God that Christ would be the sacrifice. By this will, that Jesus would be the sacrifice that was prepared for us. He has sanctified, sanctified forever through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. The word sanctified means,

sanctified means set apart permanently. Set apart permanently. That's what you and I as believers in Jesus Christ are. We are set apart permanently unto God to be used only for his use. That's what we call positional sanctification. You have to understand there's two different types of sanctification. There's positional sanctification and there's practical sanctification.

Positional sanctification means that's who you are. Practical sanctification means that's now how I live. Everybody understand that? So you are positionally sanctified. You are forever set apart unto God. Now you need to live your life as who you are. Now you need to live your life as someone who is set apart unto God. But through the will of God that Jesus would be the sacrifice,

we have been sanctified through the offering of Jesus Christ. How many times? Go ahead and shout it out. Once for all. It wasn't multiple sacrifices. It wasn't a continual sacrifice. It wasn't a perpetual sacrifice. It's not a re-sacrificing every week. It is a one-time sacrifice. Once for all. I want you to think about the power of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ

because who's it once for? Oh my gosh. That was the saddest thing I've ever heard in my life. Once for all. Once for? All. Everybody, right? It's for all. I want you to think about the power of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When Jesus was crucified and the blood was shed and he cried out from the cross, it is finished, what happened? The earth shook. The graves opened up.

People were walking around that had been dead. The veil of the temple was torn in two. Why? Because there was a powerful sacrifice that was made that meant that the sins all the way at the beginning of time to all the way at the end of time were all satisfied by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. It was all taken care of. Brothers and sisters, that's serious power.

We were sitting here singing this song, day and night, night and day. This is why they don't let me lead worship. I'm like, let incense arise. Right? And I'm just, I'm thinking like, what an amazing song to sing. I was picturing myself in the throne room of God in the moment when Jesus cried out, it is finished, and thinking that the throne room probably shook in that moment

as the angels were continuing to pour out their praise to God. So next time you sing a praise song, don't think, gosh, I hope this song ends soon. Think, this is the throne room of God who by the power of Jesus Christ set us free from all sin for all time, and now all I know how to do is offer all of my praise to him. Amen. Because he has sanctified those who have been called once for all

through the sacrifice of Jesus. The second thing he tells us is this. He says, lost my place here. Every priest, verse 11, stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices which can never take away sin. But he, having offered one sacrifice, 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. He says, every priest stands daily ministering and offering. And I want you to pick up on the sarcasm he's kind of using here. He says, every day sacrifice after sacrifice. You picking up on that? He's pointing out the continual doldrum of what the priest had to do. Can you imagine being a priest at that point in time?

Like, you make a sacrifice for one guy and it's like, well, see you in the morning now. Right? Because I know you're probably going to blow it again. So I'll see you in the morning. Bring me another sheep and bring me a Dr. Pepper while you're at it. And so, I mean, this is how they had to have felt. Like, we're just going to keep doing this same thing over and over again.

You ever feel that way in your life? You ever feel like before you came to Jesus you were just doing the same thing over and over again? Just hoping to feel a little bit better next time? Only the problem was you felt a little bit worse next time? The problem was you were trying to find your satisfaction, you were trying to find your peace, you were trying to find it anywhere but Jesus?

Because you, just like those priests, were going, I'm making the same sacrifice over and over and over again. But He, meaning Jesus, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time. It's almost as powerful as the once for all. One sacrifice for all time. It just took the one thing. You would have to think the high priest at that point in time probably goes,

so what's my job now? And we need to understand this. This would have been hard for the Jewish people. So what's my job now? If Jesus is the one sacrifice, then what's my job? You know what the job of the high priest at that point in time is? Point to the real high priest. What's my job now as the priest? I don't have to offer sacrifice anymore. What do I do?

I point to the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ. You know what we are all called? We are all called a kingdom of priests. So what is my job? To point people to the one sacrifice of Jesus. And to say, this is the sacrifice that you need in your life. Because He made it once for all, for all time, this one sacrifice. And what did He do after He made the sacrifice?

I want to point out one thing to you. Let me read the verse to you again. Every priest, and I'm going to throw a little emphasis in here. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time. After time, the same sacrifices which He had. Never take away sin. But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins, it's even in bold, in mind, and all caps, sat down.

You notice the contrast there? The priest was always standing. What did Jesus do after His sacrifice? He sat down. Why? Because the work was finished. After He made that one sacrifice, He sat down at the right hand of the Father because the work was done and He could rest. I can't prove this scripturally, and I hope that this isn't bold on my part to say, but I think He sat down and said,

man, I'm glad that's done. Right? I like to think that because what did Jesus pray before the cross? He was like, Lord, I'm open for options right now. Right? If there's any other way, I'll take part B if we need to. But Lord, if there's any other way, nevertheless, not my will, but Your will be done. So I think when He was done, He was like, I'm glad I'm done with that.

He sat down and said, He sat down at the right hand of the Father. Do you know where we always see Jesus seated? At the right hand of the Father. Do you know the only time we see Jesus stand in the New Testament after the Gospels are finished is in the book of Acts. In the book of Acts, Stephen was the very first martyr, the very first one to give his life for the message

of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And as Stephen was being put to death, he cried out, I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. Why? Because the only time we see Jesus standing in Scripture is when He's welcoming one of His faithful ones home to say, well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the rest that has been provided for you. Other than that,

He's seated. Why? Because His sacrifice was one time for all. The last thing He says is this. Verse 14. Oh, I missed verse 13. I gotta talk about this real quick. Okay, hang tight. And what's He doing seated at the right hand of the Father? He is waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. He is seated there waiting until the time

when He returns to rule and to reign, which by the way, I don't think is very far away. But He is waiting for that moment when He can come and complete the work by ruling and reigning as has always been intended. Now we'll move on to verse 14. The Lord said, for by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. Therefore He has perfected

for all time those who are sanctified. There it says it again. The third time He's pointed out that this is a one time thing. Therefore for by one offering He has perfected for all time. Kenneth Weiss in his translation says for all perpetuity, which is a great word by the way. He says He has perfected for ever, for all time those who are sanctified. I want to point out one really, really important word in

here. And that word is perfected. Do you realize that you've been perfected? I don't feel very perfect. That's because you don't understand what the word means. You see, the word that we've already talked about once means to be complete. In other words, you have been made complete in Christ. And now all of your completion is found in Jesus because you have been brought to

completion in Christ. And this is important for us to pay attention to because remember, all the earthly things that we have are a shadow that find their substance in Christ. Therefore, the law or any other earthly thing cannot perfect us or complete us because it was never intended to complete us. Our completion is found in Christ. And so I want to draw a little bit of

personal application here because I think this is important. There is zero in this world that will always be found in Christ. And so I want to draw a little bit of personal application here ultimately bring fulfillment and completion into your life. Only Jesus. Wives, you cannot find your completion in your husband because he will always be insufficient. He will always fall short. He

cannot complete you. Only Jesus can. Husbands, your wife cannot complete you because she can never truly offer to you everything that you need. Only Jesus can do that. And until you find that Jesus is your completion, you will always think that your spouse falls short. They will always fall short of what you want for them because what you're really looking for can't be found in a

husband or a wife. They can only be found in Jesus. All they can do is point you to the one who can truly complete you. And that's Jesus. You young people in here right now, I need you to listen. I need you to listen really, really close. You're in that place where you're starting to look for that special someone in your life. That special little nug that you're going to spend the rest

of your life with, right? You need to know something. If you cannot be complete in Christ, you will never be complete in another person. If you cannot be content and satisfied in Jesus Christ, you will never be satisfied with a person. You know how I know that? Because everybody wants to find the next right person, right? Nobody's ever said, well, you know, she's not as pretty as I want. She's not as funny as I want.

She's not as charming as I want. Have you seen you? You don't deserve that, right? You've got to find that completion in Christ. You got to find that in him because otherwise no one else is going to do it for you. Men, I need you to listen to something. You will never be complete through your job. Your job is never intended to be the thing that makes you complete in your life. Well,

I feel whole because of my job. Well, then the wholeness that you feel is a lie because you have to find that in Christ because I'm here to tell you something right now. These days, you're going to retire. And when you retire from your job, the danger is that if all of your wholeness, all of your completion was found in your job, then when you retire from that job, your life will be empty.

Your completion cannot be found in your checkbook. It can't be found in your bank account. It can only be found in Christ. Because what happens when you lose all of your money? Well, then you've lost all of your identity. It can't be found in a bigger retirement account. It has to be found in Christ because what happens when the market crashes? What are you going to do then?

You see, if your wholeness, if your completion, if your identity is found in Christ, then they can take away everything of this world and you're still okay. Because your identity is found in Christ, not these things. Because Jesus is the one who completes you. Jesus is the one who makes you whole. And until you find your wholeness in Christ, you will always be searching for the next thing

to make you whole in your life. You will always be searching for the next hobby that makes you whole. The next thing that makes you happy. The next motorcycle that you want to ride. The next new house that you want to redo. Whatever it is, you're always going to be looking for the next thing until you find it in Christ. He says, for by one offering, he has perfected for all time.

And I want you to, I wasn't intending to point this out, but I feel like I need to. That means that the holiness that you have found in Christ, the completion that you have found in Christ has no expiration date. Your salvation has no expiration date. Well, Ryan, what happens if I sin? And listen, we're going to deal with that in a couple of weeks. What happens if I fall into sin?

Then you better fall back to Jesus. Because your salvation is in him. And it's for all time. He says he has perfected forever, for all time, those who are sanctified. Those who are set apart eternally unto him. He then goes on to say this. And the Holy Spirit also testifies 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 on their mind I will write them, he says, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. If you have a pen, you might write in the margin of your Bible, Jeremiah 31. I believe this is verses 33 and 34, but it's definitely in Jeremiah 31. And I love this because he says, the Holy Spirit, he didn't say Jeremiah says, he says the Holy Spirit says.

And as a sidebar, can I say, if you want to hear from the Holy Spirit, you'd better get into the words that the Holy Spirit wrote. If you want to know what the mind of the Holy Spirit is, you better get in the book that he authored, because that's how you're going to know what the Holy Spirit has to say to you in the world today. He says, the Holy Spirit says, first of all, that the new covenant brings internal transformation. That's what he means when he says, this is the covenant, the new covenant, that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord.

I will put my laws upon their heart and on their mind, I will write them. That's an internal transformation that takes place in our lives. And an internal transformation will always turn into an external change of life. This is really important for us to pay attention to because I'm watching what I was at one point in time excited about as a revival. I'm now starting to get concerned about

because I'm seeing people who one day they post their baptism picture and then the next day they're posting a picture of themselves with a Miller Lite flipping off the camera. And I'm going, if there's an internal transformation, we should expect an external change of life. Now listen, I have an incredible amount of patience. When we come to Jesus as our Lord and Savior, there are still some things that we've got to learn.

There are still some things that we have to understand. But that internal transformation starts to change the way that we live our lives. It starts to change who we are as people because holiness is something that God has called us to be. It's something that God has called us to be. And holiness is something that God has intended for us. And that holiness on the outside

begins on the inside. Listen, I'm not going to go to a non-believer and say you really need to change the way that you live your life because they're dead on the inside. They're not going to get that. I'm going to start talking to them about salvation first. But if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, I'm going to start talking to you about holiness. And I'm going to start talking to you

about what that's supposed to be like. That your life's got to start looking separate from the world because if he's changed your heart, he should be changing your life. And so he says, he first of all says, I put my laws upon their heart and on their mind, I will write them. There will be an internal transformation. But then he says, and their sins and their lawless deeds,

I will remember no more. Is there anything that brings comfort to the heart more than knowing that God does not remember the ways we've jacked up in the past? That God does not remember the ways that we have failed in the past? And listen, I just made a very harsh statement about the need for external change coming with an internal transformation. But if that's you,

if the internal change has taken place and the external's not there yet, it's time to repent. And he won't remember those deeds anymore. And quite frankly, neither will I. I'm going to let those go because that's what we're called to do. It's so beautiful to know that God forgets all of the things that we have done. I was having a conversation with a very godly person.

He said, one of the most freeing statements I've ever heard in my life is that God expects one thing from us. Do you know what the one thing God expects from you is? At least the thing God knows is going to happen for you? Failure. I thought that wasn't what God expected. No, God knows you're going to fail. That's why he sent Jesus. God knows our flesh. God knows our frame.

And he knows how frail we are. And that's why he sent Jesus. And because of the work of Jesus, he no longer remembers our sins and our lawless deeds. And I made this point a few weeks ago, but I'm going to make these two points again. I think that means two things for us. Number one, you should stop remembering all of your sins and lawless deeds. You've got to put your past in the past.

You have to put all of the things that are underneath the blood of Jesus, and you've got to leave them underneath the blood of Jesus. Remember earlier we said that the enemy wants to keep bringing up your sins. He wants you, he wants you to constantly be reminded of those. Why? Because guilt brings death into your life. That shame brings death into your life,

and he wants you to live in that shame. And the best thing that we can do when the enemy starts bringing up our past is to first of all embrace the accusation and say, you know what? You're right. But Jesus says I'm forgiven because the blood of Jesus Christ is enough to cover all of my sins. I don't get real name it and claim it most of life, but I do in this area

because I think that we need to claim the fact that God's word says that if I have confessed my sins, that he is faithful and just to forgive me of my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Therefore, that sin's not mine to own anymore. And you can get very bold like that. You can get very bold and say, no, that sin is underneath the blood of Jesus and that's not mine to hold on to anymore.

That sin has been covered by the blood of Jesus and it's not mine to carry anymore. In that way, what we have to do is we have to take the guilt of our sins and we have to lift that elephant off of our chest and put it onto Jesus and say, you have to take all of this from me because I can't carry this any longer. It's not a burden you're intended to carry and it's not a burden that you need to carry because Jesus already carried it for you to the cross. So you need to forget your sins and your lawless deeds.

If that means you need to write them down on a piece of paper, crumple that thing up and throw it in the fire, I don't care what thing you have to do. I've seen people take their sins and they nail them up to a cross. I've seen people, write all their sins in a journal and then turn the page and say, that page has been turned. That's not me anymore. I don't know what physical thing

maybe you need to do along those lines, but I want to see you live in freedom. I want to see you live in the confidence that there is in Christ because those sins and those lawless deeds, he remembers no more and neither should you. But it means the second thing for us, church, the thing that we struggle with the most as human beings, you got to forget about your neighbor's sins too. Your friend that's a believer in Jesus Christ, that has all those failures from their past, you got to let go of them.

Your spouse who sinned against you 10 years ago and you still won't let go of it, you got to forget that thing. They've confessed it, man. You got to move on. You got to forgive. Your buddy that hurt you all those years ago that has tried as hard as he can to say, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to. Please forgive me. And you're still holding it against him.

You got to forget that thing, man. You got to forgive them. We got to quit holding each other's sins against us. See, here's the beauty of what's intended in the body of Christ, is that a bunch of sinners all get together and we all find our salvation in Jesus Christ and we become a hospital for sinners, not a cathedral for saints. Amen? That's what we should be.

We should be the place who says, listen, I got a ton of grace for the fact that I'm going to hold you accountable, but I've got grace for the fact that you have a past. I can appreciate that you have a past. I have a past too. If I told you some of the things I've struggled with in the past, you might not want me to be your pastor. But if you told me some of the things you struggled

with in the past, I might not want you to be my congregant. That's why we all come together as the body of Christ and go, we've all got a past. Now, let's leave it behind us and let's move forward together and keep showing each other grace. Amen? That's what the body of Christ is supposed to be. And I bring this up because it's not pride month anymore, but isn't it still?

I mean, can we be honest about that? Like that's still going on. Like there's still the area of sin in our culture today. And it's so easy for us as believers in Jesus Christ to look at everybody else's sin and say, it's way more disgusting than mine. When the Bible names gossip in the same line that he names homosexuality. So maybe we leave people's sins behind,

welcome people with open arms, hold them accountable, tell them the truth, but be willing to, lay aside the sins of the past. He says their sins and their lawless deeds, I will remember no more. And then in verse 18, we wrap up with this. Now, where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. There is no longer any offering for sin.

That word forgiveness, I think it was the Amplified Bible translation I read, said this, forgiveness is the complete cancellation of the penalty. The complete, the complete cancellation of the penalty. Why? Because the penalty has already been paid. We have a principle in our legal system right now that if you've been charged once with a crime and you have paid your penalty for that crime,

you cannot be charged for it again. It's called double jeopardy. Once the penalty has been paid, you cannot be charged with it again. The same is true in God's economy. Jesus has already paid the penalty. And if he's paid your penalty, you don't need to pay it again. Because where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no more offering for sin. So what's this mean for us?

What does it mean that Jesus made this better sacrifice for us? Well, I wrote down two things for me personally, and I think all of us, hopefully corporately, it means two things. Number one, the fact that Jesus has sacrificed this better means that I can have peace. I can have peace in my life. I can have peace in my life. Sin brings turmoil. It brings turmoil because you've got to lie to cover it up.

It means turmoil because of all the guilt and shame that you hold on to. It means turmoil because it's destroyed relationships with other people. It's destroyed your relationship with God. People living in sin are people living in turmoil. They're living with a lack of peace in their life, peace with God and peace with other people. There's just this constant turmoil.

So once you realize that, that Jesus has dealt with all that, that he carried all your sin as far as the east is from the west, it is like the lifting off of that elephant off of your chest, and all of a sudden you have peace. I can have peace in my life because I don't have to hide my struggles any longer because you're a sinner too, just like I am, so we can be transparent. We can be authentic with each other about it. It means I don't have to live in the guilt any longer because Jesus has already put all of that guilt underneath of the blood, and so I don't have to live in the guilt any longer.

And so I don't have to carry that guilt and that shame any longer. It restores my relationships because once my relationship with God is restored, I'm now going to start working to restore every other relationship around me. That restoration brought peace into my life, and now I can live with peace. And every time the enemy wants to bring up my sin, and I've been walking with Jesus since I was 17 years old, and that's almost 30 years ago now.

And I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt, he keeps trying to bring it up, but I still have peace in my life. Why? Because I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt the blood of Jesus Christ has covered all of my sin. So number one, it means I can have peace in my life. And may I say, not to draw this conclusion too soon, but may I say, I don't ever want to speak to a group of people

and just take for granted that there's some of you here this morning that have never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And not only are you not living with peace because you're struggling to believe that Jesus saved you, but you're not living with peace because you're still living under the guilt and the shame of sin. And I want you to know today is the day that God wants you to find your completeness, your peace, your everything in Him. And it's as simple as you, in your heart, crying out, Lord, be my Savior.

I've come to a place where I'm not that worked up about a sinner's prayer anymore. I'm not even worked up about the right words. If your heart is right, all you got to do is say, Lord, help. And I'm here to help. And I'm here to help. And I'm here to help. And I'm here to help. And I'm here to help. And I'm here to help. And I'm here to help. And I'm here to help.

And I'm here to tell you right now, He will come and He will make us home inside of you because it's about the condition of your heart, not about the words that you speak. So if that's you this morning, if you don't have peace in your life this morning, if you've never really accepted the Lord and you're so tired of trying to fill yourself with all the things of the world, then in a few minutes when we sing this last song, I'm going to be over there praying with anybody that needs prayer. But I just want you to cry out to the Lord and say, Lord, help. And in that moment, He will take away all of you.

He will take away all that guilt and He will take away all that sin and He will make you brand new again. One young lady that I talked to, she said, it's like the next day the colors were more vibrant. And I was like, that is so cool. I love that. Because she'd been living under the guilt of sin and she finally was living in the peace of Jesus. Number one, brings peace into my life.

Number two, knowing that Jesus' sacrifice is so much better brings so much confidence into my life. It gives us confidence. In our walk with Jesus Christ. Because now I'm no longer walking slunched over because of the guilt that I'm carrying with me. No longer am I walking hunched over because I don't know if I've done enough. Now I walk in the confidence of knowing that Jesus is enough.

And I don't have to walk around going, I am enough. Because I will never be enough. But I walk in the confidence of knowing that He is enough. That Jesus is enough to complete me. That He's enough to fill me. That He's enough to make me whole. I just read a great little quote by Baker Mayfield. And he said, My life never felt whole until I finally came to a place of realizing

that Jesus loved me. I love that. Here's this guy that had everything in the world. And finally he came to a place of going, the only thing that truly made me whole was not being a professional quarterback. It was knowing that I was loved by my Creator. That's good. Brings a lot of confidence into your life. So if that's you this morning, it's time to find that confidence in Jesus.

Amen? Let's all stand. And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come before you. And Lord, I have sensed this whole service, Lord, just a spiritual battle taking place. I've sensed it in my spirit. And so, Lord, I'm not sure where that is. I'm not sure who is in the middle of that spiritual battle right now. But man, I have just felt it this morning, Lord. And so whoever it is that's just fighting,

Lord, they're kicking against you. I pray that they would give up and that they would surrender to you. Father, I pray for true surrender. I pray for true inner transformation to take place in hearts and lives this morning. I pray for greater peace for the believers. Lord, I pray for peace for unbelievers that they would come to a place of going, man, I need my Jesus.

I need something in my life. And Lord, I pray for the confidence that comes only from knowing who we are in you. So Father, do the work that only your Holy Spirit can do through your word this morning. Amen. Keep up what you've started. Be with us as we go out from here. In Jesus' name, amen. I'm gonna be down over here at the side. If anybody needs prayer, I'll be over there.

Just come up and join me. Jesus paid it all All to him I owe Sin had left a crimson stain He washed it white As snow The Savior's day Thy strength indeed is small Child of weakness Watch and pray Find in me Thine all in all Jesus paid it all All to him I owe Sin had left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow For now indeed I find Thy power and thine alone And changed the leper's spots And left this heart of stone As Jesus paid it all To him I owe Sin had left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow Before the throne I stand in him complete Jesus died my soul to save My lips shall still reveal Jesus paid it all All to him I owe Sin had left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow Sin had left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow

He washed it white as snow He washed it white as snow Oh praise the one Who paid it all Who paid my debt And raised this life A debt Oh praise the one A debt A debt Jesus Oh Lord God we just thank you for For the work that you've done Once and for all Lord we thank you that we don't have to To offer these sacrifices We don't have to work extra hard We don't have to Do anything Lord You've taken care of all of it Lord We just thank you that you've done all of it Lord We just thank you that you've done all of it Lord We just need to come to faith in you Lord We need to surrender to you Lord and you When we do that Lord you You take us underneath your wing Lord And our debt is paid Father we just ask that as we leave here today

That we would rest in that fact That you would move mightily in our lives And may you be glorified in Jesus name Amen Love you guys have a wonderful week