Sunday Morning Service 8:30AM- The Ministry of Christ pt 4 ~ A better Tabernacle with a Better Coven

Lord, we praise you, God. We thank you for this time of worship, Lord. And as we sing this last song, God, I pray that we can just again be reminded of who you are in our lives this morning, God, just to put you on the rightful place in our lives, Lord, on our hearts, in our minds, on the throne that you are so deserving of, God, and that we can just lay everything at your feet this morning. In Jesus' name.

I've been held.

Continue to be reminded of that this morning, Lord, to remind ourselves of your goodness, of your holiness, God, your mercy, everything that you are this morning, Father. I pray that we are just filled with your spirit this morning and filled with joy and peace and all of the good things that you bring us, Lord. Your mercies are new every morning, Father. So I pray that we are here this morning, ready, excited, joyful, God, looking forward to what you have for each and every one of us from your word, Father.

I pray that, again, you just fill Pastor Ryan as he's done the work to prepare to share from your word, Father, but you just speak so mightily through him to each and every one of our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen. Go ahead and greet those worshiping around you.

Good morning. If you could begin to locate your seat. Grab your bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. Some things to take note of. As usual, the things on the left-hand side, but a handful of things. Here in the middle section, a reminder that we have our baptism and family swim night coming up Wednesday, July the 15th. It's from 7 to 8.30 at Paris Park Pool. So if you've not been baptized and you would like to be,

you can put your name down. I'll be making all those phone calls this week. Put your name down on the sheet that's out there. If you have been baptized, please come join us anyway because it's a great time of celebration with family. And when the baptism is finished, we have the pool until 8.30 so we can hang out. We can hang out and swim and spend some time together as family.

We will not be doing a potluck ahead of time, but we will have drinks and desserts there at the pool. So, Promotion Sunday. I don't know if this really applies too much to this service. You all don't care if the kids are promoting, but they are. They are. You guys don't check kids in. Women's Retreat. There's a Women's Retreat hosted by Calvary Chapel of Wichita

coming up September the 18th. It's the 20th at St. Crispin's Convention Center. I don't even know how you pronounce that name in Oklahoma. We woke up. Okay, all right. I mean, it's just phonetically we're just going to pronounce that. Okay. Yeah, we woke up. That's what you'll do every day. Registration is open until August the 1st. If you have questions, you can speak with Diane Nichols.

Also, that little QR code there will take you to the website so that you can register for that. And then one thing that is not in your bulletin, the mission strip is leaving one month from tomorrow. And so if you remember a couple of years ago when we sent them out, we sent them out with a suitcase, actually a couple of suitcases, I think we filled up, which is just average medical supplies that we take for granted. Things like Neosporin, Band-Aids, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, things along those lines, those disposable alcohol pads, things like that.

So. Starting next week, they'll have a suitcase out there. So if you want to bring any of those things in and we'll get this probably sent out through flock note and probably get a sheet set out there as well. So over the next three or four weeks, we will be collecting all those supplies and you can just throw them in that suitcase when you bring those in on a Sunday morning so that we can get them sent out with a lot of a lot of things to be able to take down there with them.

It's a huge support to the folks down there in Guatemala. So those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your. Mobile device is silenced and for our what is actually going to be a unison reading here this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 29 or excuse me, Psalm 28, Psalm 28, looking at the new American standards so that hopefully we all sound the same.

If you need a copy, there should be one in a row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 28, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's word. And if you would read along with me, Psalm 28, a psalm of David to you. Oh Lord, I call my rock. Do not be deaf to me, for if you are silent to me, I will become like those who go down to the pit here.

The voice of my supplications. When I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands towards your holy sanctuary, do not drag me away with the wicked and with those who work iniquity, who speak peace with. Not rejecting the works of the living in the world and those who have fallen on their knees before you necessarily. But you are willing to be led up by them.

Greatness of the spirit warms their Blessed be the Lord because he has heard the voice of my supplication. Lord we all have been tooaring against you my support, The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusts in him and I am helped. Therefore, my heart exalts and with songs I shall thank him. The Lord is their strength and he is a saving defense to his anointed.

Save your people and bless your inheritance. Be their shepherd also and carry them forever. Father, I do praise you that you are our strength and shield. And Lord, that you hear our cry every time we pray to you. And so, Lord, we trust in you this morning and we ask that you would move by the power of your Holy Spirit through your word. That you would speak to us as you see fit.

And that you would move in our hearts in the way that we each individually need to hear from you. And God, we just thank you and praise you. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9.

Today we come to part 4 in our series, The Ministry of Christ. And really it's kind of a second little subheading underneath a better tabernacle. We said that the ministry of Christ was a ministry in a better sanctuary. It was a ministry of a better covenant. And what we've been looking at is that it's the ministry in a better tabernacle. And so last week what we did is we compared and contrasted the two tabernacles between the earthly tabernacle and the heavenly tabernacle.

And the superiority of Christ in that heavenly tabernacle. Well today what we'll do is we will look at a better tabernacle with a better covenant. It's interesting because in chapter 8 he spent some time talking to us about the new covenant. And now he's going to bring together the subjects of the new covenant and the better tabernacle that we have in Christ Jesus.

And so picking up in verse 15 of chapter 9, it says this. For this reason he is the mediator. He is the mediator of a new covenant. So that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.

For a covenant is valid only when men are dead. For it is never in force while the one who made it lives. Therefore, even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop. And he sprinkled the book itself and all the people saying,

this is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you. And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and the vessels of the ministry with blood. And according to the law, one may almost say all things are cleansed with blood. And without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these,

but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor was it that he would offer himself often as the high priest enters the holy place, year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, he would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world.

But now once at the consummation of the ages, he has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And in as much as it is appointed for, men to die once and after this comes judgment. So Christ also having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin to those who eagerly wait for him. A better tabernacle with a better covenant.

And so he starts off like this. He says for this reason, which of course indicates to us a change in subject. And so verse 15 again is the hinge between the two subjects. The earthly tabernacle and the heavenly tabernacle to the tabernacle and the new covenant. He says for this reason, since Christ is a better sacrifice, since the blood of bulls and goats were never able to truly cleanse,

they were never able to truly offer eternal redemption. But the once for all sacrifice of Jesus was able to offer eternal redemption for this reason. He is the mediator of a new covenant. The mediator of a new covenant. That's the first subject that we're going to cover this morning. He is the mediator of a better covenant. That word mediator is kind of an interesting word.

And I want to read to you something out of a word study by Kenneth Weiss that I found to be kind of interesting. It says this. The word mediator is a translation of a Greek word that I can't pronounce, which refers to one who intervenes between two to make or to restore peace and friendship. Here the Messiah acts as a go-between or mediator, between a holy God and sinful man.

By his death on the cross, he removes the obstacle, sin, which caused an estrangement between man and God. When the sinner accepts the work of the Messiah's sacrifice, the guilt and the penalty of his sin is no more. The power of sin in his life is broken, and he becomes the recipient of the divine nature. And the estrangement between himself and God, both legal, and personal, disappears.

Isn't that great? God, or Jesus, becomes this go-between between us and God. We went over this two or three weeks ago, but I want to go over it again. In between God and man, there is a gulf that is fixed between the two. A chasm, if you will, a grand canyon that keeps us from being able to access God, who is on the other side. On the side of man is all of the sin and all of the degradation,

all of the impurities, the immoralities that we know of as humanity. And in between is a gulf that says nothing can come between here because you cannot reach a holy God. And on the side of God is all of the holiness of heaven, all of the purity, all of the sanctity, everything that is God himself, that is unapproachable by man. And apart from some work of a mediator, we will never be able to be brought together because our sin caused us to be at war with God.

How would we ever make peace with a God that we are at war with? How will we ever bridge the gap of a chasm that we have no bridge to get across? What will we do to reach the God that we were created to know? In steps Jesus, who is the mediator between God and man. He becomes the one who takes hold of sinful man and takes hold of a holy God and draws us together in a brand new friendship,

doing away with forever the enmity, in other words, the war that is between us because he satisfies, the righteous requirement of the law, forever bridging the gap because he becomes the way between God and man. As he told us in the book of John, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Therefore, for this reason, he is the mediator of a new covenant.

I want to read this to you one more time. He says, He caused the estrangement, between God and man to end. When the sinner accepts the Messiah's sacrifice, the guilt and the penalty of his sin is no more. The power of sin in his life is broken. He becomes the recipient of the divine nature and the estrangement between himself and God disappears. Because Christ has a better ministry

and a better tabernacle, he is the mediator, he is the mediator of a better covenant. He describes it in a second way. Not only is he the mediator of a better covenant, but he describes death and redemption. Notice what it says, middle of verse 15. So that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant,

a death has taken place. What's the death that's taken place? Well, it's the death of the Messiah. And that death of the Messiah presents redemption. Redemption for those who committed sins under the first covenant. How were Old Testament saints saved? Well, Ryan, they were saved by their sacrifices that they made on an altar. Wrong. All of those sacrifices temporarily

satisfied the wrath of God. They were saved by faith in a coming Messiah. They believed that there was something greater than the sacrifice that they were making to come because all of those sacrifices pointed to something greater. And when Jesus died on the cross, it was not only a proactive salvation, it was a reactive salvation. It was not only a salvation for the present

and for the future sins that would be committed, it was a salvation for the previous sins that had been committed. Because all of those, we're told in Hebrews 11, we'll get there, I promise. In Hebrews 11 it says, all of those died in faith because they believed in a sacrifice that was to come. The entire sacrificial system of the Old Testament was always pointing to an ultimate sacrifice, a one-time sacrifice that was in Jesus Christ, which is why he's telling these Jewish believers, don't go back to the shadow when you've already seen the reality.

Don't go back to the shadow when the substance is standing right there in front of you in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. If his work is finished, if his work is complete, then don't go back to a land of shadows where you're still trying to make sacrifices, hoping that you've done enough to satisfy the wrath of a God who hates sin. Rest in the death that brings redemption that is able to cover sins, past, present, and future. And brothers and sisters, as you sit here today, I want you to know something.

There is nothing in your life that has not been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no sin that you have committed in the past that has not been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ because that death brought about redemption even from the sins that you committed when you were under law, if you will, before you came into a relationship of grace with Jesus Christ. There's no sin that you're struggling with right now that the blood of Jesus Christ will not cover. There's no sin that you will struggle with in the future that the blood of Jesus Christ will not cover.

That doesn't mean that we continue to sin so that grace can abound. It's so that we can live in a confidence of knowing who we are in Christ because he does not want us to live in a place where we never know for sure where we stand with him. He wants us to live in a place where we confidently stand in the freedom that we have in Christ because he is the mediator of a better covenant. His death has provided a redemption even of the sins that we have.

The sins committed in the past, and he goes on from there to say this, so that those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. I struggled just a little bit with this word, the called. Who are the called? Well, the called are everybody that will respond to the call of salvation in their life. Does that mean some are called and some aren't?

Nope, it just means some haven't answered the phone yet and some won't. But if you're here and you've answered the call of Jesus Christ, then you have the promise of the eternal inheritance. The promise of the eternal inheritance which is eternal life in Jesus Christ. Again, he says this because he wants you to stand firm on the foundation of Jesus Christ. He wants you to stand firm

in the freedom of Jesus. I'll probably deal with this again more in just a moment. I haven't fully decided yet. Sometimes I like to be as surprised as you are. But I've thought a lot about the fact that this week is 4th of July week. This is the week that we celebrate our independence. People started celebrating their independence last night in my neighborhood

by setting off bombs at midnight. It was amazing. I was like, wow. Let freedom ring. Let the white doves sing. Let the whole world know that today is the day of reckoning. My yard will probably pay the price for it later. I'm just glad we've gotten 7 inches of rain in the last week. Anyway, it's neither here nor there. The fact of the matter is we celebrate freedom this week.

I've thought a lot about this this weekend. A lot about the fact that freedom that we have is not some American idea that was born in 1776. I think we need to understand that. Freedom was not an idea that was born on the day when Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and all of those men signed it saying, yes, we believe that we are independent and intended to live in freedom.

No, freedom is an idea that was birthed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because freedom is what we were born for. God always intended us to live in freedom. We gave that freedom over when we decided that we would rather live in the bondage of sin than in the freedom of holiness. And so God in His infinite mercy said even though they have given themselves over

to the bondage of sin, I will still create a way for them to live in freedom. And the way that He created for us to live in freedom had to be purchased with the blood of a Savior. Isn't it interesting that freedom does not come free? That freedom always comes at a sacrifice. For us as American citizens, our freedom came at the sacrifice of those men who stood firmly

and wrote their names down signing their death sentence. Many of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, their lives ended by being hanged for treason when they were caught. Because freedom had a cost that went along with it. And as much as we can get emotional and celebrate the fact that we have been set free, because men were so bold to stand up and say, we will live as free men, and we can celebrate that sacrifice, we must remember that the only reason we can celebrate that sacrifice as American citizens is because Jesus made that sacrifice for all of humanity.

And the freedoms that we claim to enjoy here in the United States of America are not something that should simply be because we live under a flag of a star-spangled banner, but because we live under the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And that freedom is available for anybody who will put their faith in Jesus no matter what ethnicity or nationality you claim. You know, there are people living in nations right now who have zero civic freedoms, and yet they live more free than many of the citizens of the United States of America, because they are living in the freedom of Christ. He says he's the mediator of a better covenant because his death has purchased our redemption so that we can have the promise of the eternal inheritance,

which is ultimate eternal freedom in Christ. He now goes on to describe this first covenant, and this is what he says. Verse 16. For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. Now, the New American Standard translates the word covenant

the same in all three of those verses, but there's a subtle difference in the words covenant between verse 15 and verses 16 and 17. Some of your translations may even have it as testament or will in verses 16 and 17. The idea behind those two Greek words is this. The word in 15 speaks of a spiritual covenant. The words in 16 and 17 speak of a legal covenant,

what we might call a testament or a will. My last will and testament. And the idea is this. He uses an earthly idea to show us a heavenly or spiritual truth. He says, for where there is a covenant or where there is a will, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a will or a testament or a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force

while the one who made it lives. In other words, if I was to leave you all of my wealth in my will, first of all, that's on me, I'm sorry. But if I was to leave you everything that I have in my will, that would not become active until I die. Right? Like when I die, my daughters will get all of the Bibles that I own. That's all that they'll get. But they'll get all of the Bibles

that I own. And it's a lot of them. It's a lot of Bibles. But they won't get those until I die. Right? Because that's when the will kicks in. And this is the point that he makes here. Now he brings the point home in verse 18. Therefore, since death is necessary for the covenant to be fulfilled, therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood.

He now brings us back to this first covenant. And the first covenant had to be inaugurated with blood. Well, what does he mean by that? He says this. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all of the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop. And he sprinkled both the book itself

and all of the people saying, this is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you. And in the same way, he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with blood. Over the margin of your Bible and in your notes, you might write Exodus 24. Exodus 24. Because there's almost a direct quotation out of Exodus chapter 24 about what takes place.

So in Exodus chapter 20, God begins to give the law. He speaks the law to the people. And all the people here, and they say two things. Number one, they say, we will keep the law. Moses, you go talk to God. So the first thing that happens is Moses writes out all of those 10 commandments that were given. He writes all of those out. And then in chapter 24, he gathers some of his elders together

and he has them all go and build altars and slay animals. And they bring the blood to him. And he takes half of the blood and he sprinkles it on the altar. But then he takes half of the blood and he takes a bunch of hyssop. Just imagine, if you will, taking a bunch of pasture grass, right? Because that's basically what hyssop looks like. It's just a bunch of pasture grass.

And he dips it in a mixture of blood and water. And imagine, if you will, we're all gathered together. And I read the law to you, right? I read, this is what God's righteous standard says. And you respond, we will do it. We will keep the law. I seal that covenant in blood. And what Moses did is he took that hyssop and he stirred it up, stirred up the water and the blood together.

And he took and he began to sprinkle it on the people. Imagine just blood, just sprinkled. This is a very bloody chapter. We have to understand this. Just, you're getting splattered in the face. Your clothes are getting splattered with, you have to change your shirt after this, right? You're getting splattered with all, and then he does it on the book of the covenant.

And mine are all splattered with coffee, not blood, at least mostly. And so, but this is what he does. Why? Because the first covenant was inaugurated with blood. It was sealed with blood. Why was the first covenant sealed with blood? He says this, according to the law, verse 22, one may almost say all things are cleansed with blood. And without the shedding of blood,

there is no forgiveness. Hold your finger here and go with me one place in scripture. Go with me back to the law. Go to the book of Leviticus. Go and uncrinkle those pages. Knock the dust off those pages. And I want you to look at verse 11. Leviticus 17, verse 11. It says this, for the life, Leviticus 17, 11, for the life of the flesh is in the blood. And I have given it to you on the altar

to make atonement for your souls. For it is the blood by reason of life that makes atonement. Do you realize that from the very beginning, God had them hold blood in very high esteem because the life is in the blood. That's first of all true physically. The more we study in science, the more we realize that the Bible is correct and that the life truly is in the blood,

whether it be your DNA, whether it be the fact that blood carries oxygen throughout your body, whether it be the fact that blood carries nutrients throughout your body. If there's any portion of your body where the blood is cut off, that portion of your body begins to die. Because blood is necessary in every portion of your body. As a matter of fact, one of the things that they have learned with athletes is that if you want to deal with injuries or sore muscles or inflamed joints, you have to increase blood flow.

And so they'll wear compression sleeves and things along those lines to make sure that there's plenty of blood flow because the life is in the blood. We know that physically. But also what we understand spiritually is that there is life in the blood. There was a picture of this life in the blood in the Old Testament, because in the Old Testament it gave them life for another year.

It covered over their sins for another year. So there's this life in the blood because it brought atonement. Atonement meaning a covering or a kofar, a covering for your sins. So that God could say, I will continue to give you life because the blood has covered your sins. As a matter of fact, we could take this all the way back to Genesis chapter 3. If you remember in Genesis chapter 3,

what was the first thing that they made for themselves? Coverings of what? Fig leaves, right? Why did they try to cover themselves? Because they were no longer clothed in the righteousness of God. So they tried to cover the shame of their unrighteousness with fig leaves. And then God did something very interesting for them. It says He covered them with the skins of animals.

Where did He get the skins of animals? He would have had to make a blood sacrifice to cover Adam and Eve. A covering a kofar over their sins. And atonement is what the word specifically is in the Hebrew there. And so He says the life is in the blood. And we know this from the law. Go back over to Hebrews chapter 9. Back in verse 22. It says, And according to the law

one may almost say that all things are cleansed with blood. Now He says almost all things. Let me tell you why. He made it to where no matter how much money you had you could make a sacrifice to the Lord. You were to offer a lamb or a goat that was without spot or blemish. If you could not afford a lamb or a goat I'm just kidding. If you could not afford a lamb or a goat

then you could bring two turtle doves. And you could sacrifice but if you couldn't even afford a turtle dove to bring for a sacrifice you could bring a cup of flour. And that flour you could make as a burnt offering unto the Lord. That's why He says almost all things are covered with blood. Why? Because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Some of your translations may say without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. In other words there is no doing away with sins without the blood sacrifice. Chuck Smith in his commentary made a really interesting point. He said, it's kind of interesting that it says this in the book of Hebrews and yet we have Jewish people living today without understanding that Jesus is their ultimate sacrifice but they also are living without a temple where they cannot make sacrifices.

And so there is no way for them to cover their sins. It's interesting that shortly after this the temple would be destroyed ending the sacrificial system showing that Jesus was the only sacrifice. There was now no other sacrifice for sin. And yet we still know the truth without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. You know why many people are walking around the world

today miserable on the inside even though they put a happy face on the outside? Because the blood of Jesus Christ has never covered their sins. And though they may not admit it to anyone else in the world when they lay their head down on their pillow at night they have the aching knowledge of the fact that their sin is still something that they'll have to deal with. There is still that knowledge that they have to deal with that and so they wake up the next day and they cover it over with another hard day's work or more entertainment or more of the world or more numbing or do whatever it is.

They wake up another day and they put on the happy face and they do the best that they can to cover over that guilty feeling and they make themselves feel pretty good because I've done a lot of really good works today I was a pretty good person today or I numbed myself well enough today that I forget about it but then I lay my head down on the pillow again at night and that aching sensation is still there. Because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. That's why from the very beginning God instituted a sacrificial system to keep them constantly in mind of the necessity of the shedding of blood. Verse 23 we now begin to look at Christ and the new covenant.

Therefore since all things in the old covenant were inaugurated with blood since blood was always necessary for the cleansing of people since there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these. What were the copies of the things in heaven? The tabernacle that we talked about last week. Everything in the tabernacle was a copy of a heavenly thing and it always had to be cleansed with blood. But I want you to notice

the once for all sacrifice of Jesus that steps in but the heavenly things with better sacrifices than these. That doesn't mean that the heavenly things needed cleansed with blood. He's carrying the thought into the heavenlies. He says for Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands a copy of the true one but he went into heaven itself to appear in the presence of God for us.

He went into heaven and he appeared in the presence of God for us and he brought a blood sacrifice. Now we take it back to the day of atonement. Remember that we talked about this last week. On the day of atonement one day a year Leviticus chapter 16 one day a year the high priest would enter into the most holy place the presence of God with a blood sacrifice that he would sprinkle on the mercy seat to make atonement for the nation of Israel for another year.

After they had taken and confessed the sins of the nation on top of the head of the sacrificial goat they would once again take that sacrifice into the most holy place. Jesus did not go into a earthly most holy place. He went into the very throne room of God and he presented a blood sacrifice to say this doesn't just cover sin for another year. This covers sin for all of eternity and it doesn't even just cover the sins that will come in the future. This covers

all sins both reactive and proactive. And can I throw another word in there? Active. Past present and future. And it covers all of it. Because he is the mediator of a better covenant because he is a minister in a better tabernacle. It's not a temporary tabernacle it's a permanent tabernacle. I want you to notice what he says next here. He says, nor was it that he had to

offer himself often as the high priest in the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise he would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world. I don't think we can overstate this enough. He did not offer himself often as the high priest did every year. Can you imagine the disappointment on the heart of the high priest

when he goes in the day of atonement is done. That's a stressful day for a high priest. Can we all agree with that? That's a pretty stressful day for him. Got a rope tied to his ankle and some little bells dingling so that everybody knows yep, he's still alive. God must have accepted the sacrifice. And you know the priest comes out and goes, right? Because he

made it out alive. God accepted the sacrifice again. That's a stressful day for him. And can you imagine he wakes up the next morning and he goes 364 more days and I get to do it again. Right? That's a stressful thing. I always think about we just had the NBA championship. I don't really care who wins the NBA championship anymore. I don't have a dog in that fight. But New York

Knicks win. Yay! For like one day, maybe one week, because we have these big parades now, right? And so for like one week they're the champions. We are the champions. And everybody's excited about it. But you know what happens one week after? They're looking at next season. Why? Because it was a temporary championship. No, they're forever world champions. No, they're not.

They're 2026 world champions. It doesn't do anything about the next year. They've got to start all over again. Right? And that's the way it is. We have to understand that was a disappointing feeling. And they would have to live all year thinking I've got to make this sacrifice again. And I hope God accepts that one. Can you imagine the nation of Israel? Yes, they're living with the knowledge that for another

year they've been atoned for by the sacrifices. But in their minds there's still more sacrifices to be made. I still have to bring a sacrifice every time I sin. I still have to bring the Passover sacrifice. I still have to bring all of these different things to make sure that my sin was covered. Oops, I touched a dead body. I've got to go see the priest again.

Because now I've got to have the ashes of the red heifer and some water sprinkled on me. I've got to tell you, in my job, I would have to show up there a lot. I do a lot of funerals. And it's like, wow, this is a really wild thing to do. But Jesus didn't have to offer himself over and over again. He says, it was not that he would have to offer himself often.

As the high priest enters the holy place here by here with blood that's not his own. Listen, otherwise, he would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world. Yeah, I'm going to say it. Okay. This is one of the litany of places I find major issue with the Catholic church. I don't mean to bring this up a lot, but the amount of times I've had people come to me with questions about Catholicism

in the last year, maybe two of my ministry, is exponentially more than it was the first 22 years of my ministry. So, I don't know why this is coming up a lot, but it is. And as I view it, the book of Hebrews is sort of like the don't be a Catholic book. I'm just serious about this right now. Do I think that you can be a Catholic and be saved? Yes. Do I think

that if you're saved, you're going to stay a Catholic? I have a hard time believing that. Because of the teachings. And this is one reason why. Because in the book of Hebrews, it says he does not have to offer himself often for sinning and in just a minute he's going to say it was a once for all sacrifice. Why is that important? Because you know what the entire mass of the Catholic church

is? It is the continuation of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It's not the re-sacrificing of him. You'll get in trouble with semantics with a Catholic on that. It is the continuation of the sacrifice. That's why when you show up, you have to every single week show up to mass because it is the continuation of the sacrifice because you had sins that week that now need atoned for.

And you have to atone for those sins. How do you atone for those sins? By taking part in the mass and taking part in the Eucharist. By taking part in the communion service because they believe it becomes the body and the blood of Jesus. Therefore, your sins are atoned for for one more week. Therefore, if you're a Catholic, you never know if you've ever done enough.

Because what if there's some sins you haven't atoned for? And this breaks my heart. I don't want to prove myself right. I want them to live in freedom. I want anybody who has any sort of understanding of the gospel to live in the freedom of the gospel. Because if Christ has set you free, then you are free indeed. I gotta tell you, the most glorious thing for

me to know as a loser who struggles with sin is to know that even when I fail, He does not. That even when I stumble, He has not given up on me because His blood is enough to cover all of my sins. And I can rest in the security of who I am in Jesus Christ. And I can stand in the confidence of who I am in Jesus Christ. As somebody who lived a good portion of their Christian walk, never being

sure if I'd put my faith in Jesus in the right way. Never being sure if my prayers were enough. Never being sure if I was being good enough to be accepted by my Savior to have Him say, Ryan, I carried all of your sin outside of the city and I bore it all on my self on the cross so that you never had to deal with it again. And I went forever and He went forever.

And I said, and I've been living in freedom ever since. And now I celebrate that freedom on a continual basis. And now I don't show up to church because I need to atone for my sins. I show up to church, well first of all, because y'all would notice if I was gone. Second of all, I show up to church to celebrate what Jesus has done. To celebrate the finished work of Jesus Christ.

That's why we have an empty cross sitting here, not a cross with Jesus hanging on it sitting here. Because it is not a continual sacrifice. It was a one-time sacrifice. Why? Because Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor was it that He would offer Himself

often as the high priest enters the holy place year by year. With the blood that is not His own. Otherwise He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world. Carrying on from there. Middle of verse 26. But now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested, or He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. To put away sin.

Isn't that a great phrase? That He's put away our sin. You know what we tend to do with our sin? We tend to just keep putting it out in front of ourselves and going, look at what I did or look at how I failed. And Jesus put it away. He said that's not yours to carry anymore. That's not yours to hold anymore. That's not yours to live in anymore. Because I've put that

away. I've done away with that. By a one time sacrifice on the cross. Just like we learned in Hebrews chapter 1. After having suffered once He rose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the Father because He appeared at the culmination of the time to be the once for all sacrifice for our sins. So what does that mean for us? Verse 27. Inasmuch it is

appointed as it is appointed for sin once to die and after this comes the judgment. So Christ also having been offered. How many times does that say? Once. Having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin to those who eagerly wait for Him. I think an important point needs to be made here. Not

that we can build an entire dogma or entire theology off of one verse but this lends itself to other verses that point out the same thing. Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes the judgment. Why do you point that out? Do you know reincarnation is not real? Like I was not something else in a previous life. I won't be something else

in a life after this. Because it's appointed for men once to die and after that the judgment. One time. And so he says it's appointed for men once to die and after that the judgment. So, since that's true, Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time. I call this our future hope, right? That He's going to appear a second time. And He's going to

appear a second time for what? He's going to appear a second time for salvation. What does that mean for salvation? I thought that's what He did the first time. It is what He did the first time. But this is a reference to continual eternal salvation. The taking of us home to be with Him. Did you notice that the three tenses of salvation are used in this passage of Scripture? Let me point

this out to you. Verse 26 it says, He has been manifested, or in my opinion, a better translation, He has appeared at one time to put away sin. That's the past tense. That's justification. You have been saved. He appeared once to save you. But notice what it says in verse 24. For Christ did not enter a holy place made without hands, a mere copy of the true, but into heaven

itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. That's present tense. That's His present work of salvation in our life. We call it sanctification. That's what He is doing now in our lives. He is at work in us, fashioning in us what it looks like to be a man or a woman of God as He continually intercedes for us before the Father. That's the present tense. You are now

being saved. But He will appear as it just says right here in verse 28. So Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time for salvation apart from sin. In other words, the second time that He appears will not be to do away with sin. It will be to take us out of a sinful place. You will be saved. You have been saved. That's

justification. That secures your position in Christ. You are being saved. That's the sanctification process that's taking place in you right now where you are learning to live as who you really are as holy and set apart unto God. But one day you will be saved when He appears and He takes you to be with Him. The future hope that we have because His salvation is complete

in every way possible. Why? Because you were made to live free. And while you have been set free, you will one day live in ultimate freedom. Right now you live free from the penalty of sin. You are in the process of learning to live free from the power of sin. But when He comes to take us home to be with Him, you are set free from the presence of sin. But all of it is freedom

that has been purchased by the one time sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Amen? Because He is a better minister and a better tabernacle of a better covenant. And praise God because we need that work in our lives. Let's all stand. And if you would bow with me. Father we come before You and Lord I thank You for the time that we have had in Your word this morning.

Lord I thank You for what this week represents for us as American citizens Lord. But I thank You for what that truth represents for all of us as believers in Jesus Christ. That we have been set free and we can live in that freedom. All because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And so Lord may we know that freedom in our lives. Whether it be freedom from the penalty

of sin because we need to come to know You as our Lord and Savior Lord. Freedom from the power of sin because we need to continue to be sanctified through Your work in our lives presently. And Lord or Lord whether it's the hope that we look forward to on the day when You return and set us free from the presence of sin. Lord whatever it is do Your work in our hearts as You see fit.

In Jesus name. Amen. Be blessed. The Savior say Thy strength indeed is small child of weakness watch and pray find in me Lord we thank You for that sacrifice God we thank You for the freedom that we walk in each and every day Lord each and every moment. Father may You continue to go before us this day this week. The rest of this year Lord as we see people and visit

family and celebrate Lord not only our country's freedom Lord but our freedom in You. In Jesus name Amen.