Sermon for 11.10.24
Text: Hebrews 9:24-28
Theme: Once and for all
In the Name of the Father…Amen.
The reading from Hebrews serves as our sermon text for this morning.
Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God the heavenly Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:LSB 563:1-2 Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness
Jesus, Thy blood and righteousnessMy beauty are, my glorious dress;Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,With joy shall I lift up my head.
Bold shall I stand in that great day,Cleansed and redeemed, no debt to pay;Fully absolved through these I amFrom sin and fear, from guilt and shame.
Memory verse!
Hebrews 9:28 (NASB95) 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 await Him.
Introduction
§ The saying “hanging by a thread” might have been a way of describing some of the early Christians living in Rome: v they were weary, v worn down, v discouraged, v and disheartened from the public persecution and shame they were experiencing firsthand for confessing the name of Jesus.
§ Life: v in this fallen world, v under the suffering of the cross, v it has a way of making us war weary, v of wearing us thin, v a source of discouragement, v makes us sick and tired of being “sick and tired” v and cause us to be so disheartened so that we at times feel as though we are “hanging by a thread.”
§ To such a people then and now, the letter to the Hebrew Christians is a “word of encouragement” (see 13:22). v The author of Hebrews has plenty of encouragement for us today as he bids us to think and reflect on the all-sufficient sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, who stands before the heavenly Father even now as our great High Priest.
§ He tells us that because: Christ’s “Once and for All” Sacrifice Is the Complete and Definitive Work for Our Salvation,
v we may have the certainty, comfort, encouragement, boldness, and confident hope. v By that final work of atonement, we live today and tomorrow in Christ and wait eagerly for His return.
I. Christ’s atoning work gives us certainty that our sins are forgiven before God. Verses 24-26 A. There are many forces inside and outside of us that would cause us to question and doubt our standing be-fore God and his forgiveness in Christ. 1. How often do you wonder if the work of Christ is for others, but not for you? A. Thoughts of lust. B. Words of anger C. Deeds full of revenge 2. How often does the old Adam, that hardened unbeliever in each one of us, cause us to doubt God’s love in Christ? A. How about every single day! 2. How often does the evil one deceive us into believing that God cannot and should not and will not even consider forgiving someone like us? A. How about every single day!B. The author makes it crystal clear that Christ’s death is the all-sufficient sacrifice for “the sins of many” (v 28), including yours and mine! 1. All sacrifices of the old covenant were temporary and designed to foreshadow something greater. A. They served as pictures of what was to come.2. These sacrifices and offerings find their fulfillment, end, and goal in Christ’s decisive “once and for all” sacrifice (v 26; cf v 28).
A. Christ’s death is the single payment for all sin, transgression, and iniquity, that is —total and complete forgiveness of every sin! B. David says in Psalm 32: Psalm 32:1–2 (NASB95) 1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! C. Unlike the high priest who offered sacrifices: 1. yearly, 2. habitually, 3. repeatedly, 4. and frequently, 5. Christ offered himself “once” and for all and His death secures an “eternal redemption” (9:12). 6. Upon His ascension to “the right hand of the Majesty on high” (1:3), He sat down because His work was and is complete (10:12)! 7. All is complete! Nothing else needs to be done, ever! 8. As our Lord proclaimed while on the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30)!
3. Sin was not overlooked, ignored, or swept under a rug; rather, it was dealt with decisively and sufficiently, and it was removed completely. a. The verb “put away” (v 26) is very strong and can be translated “the annulment.” b. That is, the debt of your sin has been paid in full and no longer exists. 1. Dr. John Kleinig says it this way: “The picture here is that sin incurs a debt with God and so results in a state of indebtedness. So, just as God canceled the debts of the Israelites on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) and released them from their indebtedness in the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25:8–55), so Jesus canceled the debt of sin before God by his death in order to provide release for sinners from their consequent indebtedness with his blood” (Kleinig, 462). Furthermore, “The author implies that Jesus did not just overlook sin but actually removed it; he took it up on himself (ἀναφέρω, 9:28) to take it off (cf ἀφαιρέω, 10:4) and take it away from sinners (cf περιαιρέω, 10:11)” (Kleinig, 448–49).C. Christ bore your sin, my sin: 1. He took it upon Himself in order to take it off of you and take it away forever (v 28; 10:4, 11–12).
Transition
A. Not only do we have certainty that our sins are forgiven in Christ, but we have the comfort that Christ’s blood cleanses the whole of us from every impurity.
II. Christ’s blood cleanses comforts our consciences and sanctifies body and soul. Verses 25-26
A. Our heavenly Father wants us, His beloved children in Christ, to have a good and clean conscience. 1. Sin, however, gives us that “smell” that does not go away.
2. The evil one wants to keep it that way. A. He wants us to have a guilty conscience, a bad conscience, so that we question our standing before God. 3. This is why Christ entered God’s presence, not with the blood of any animal but with His very own.
B. The author of Hebrews tells us that Christ appeared to deliver “the good things” of God (9:11). This includes the cleansing power of His blood to “purify” our conscience and deliver to us a good and clean conscience (9:14; 10:22).
1.“Blood functions on the boundary between the clean and unclean, the holy and profane. A. When lost through violent death, blood defiles, yet when offered through sacrifice, blood cleanses: ‘It is the blood that makes atonement’ (Lev 17:11). B. To all appearance blood stains whatever it touches, yet Hebrews understands that [Christ’s] blood can be used to bring cleansing, sanctification, and forgiveness (9:13–14, 22), to inaugurate covenants (9:20; 10:29), and to provide access to God (9:7, 12, 25)” (Koester, 414–15).2. Jesus’ blood can cleanse our consciences as no other can because He is superior to all others.
A. His blood has the power to cleanse even the foulest of sins and the conscience that is unrelenting. B. He sprinkles His blood over your sin, over your conscience (9:14), and on your heart (10:22) to make and keep you holy—His blood and the Spirit: 1. Calls 2. Gathers 3. Enlightens 4. Sanctifies C. His blood not only cleanses you but also releases you from the sins committed against you: sins of thought, word, and deed.3. This is what Jesus desires to do for you again today at his table as he gives his blood for you in his Holy Supper (9:13–14).
Transition: Forgiven and cleansed by the blood of Jesus,
III. Christ is our eternal High Priest! Therefore we have courage and boldness to approach the Lord. Verse 24 A. At his exaltation, Christ entered not an earthly temple made with hands but the heavenly holy presence of God, to present His blood not only to cleanse and sanctify sinners but also to provide them with complete unrestricted access to God’s presence (Kleinig, 427).
1. As He did frequently in His ministry and taught His disciples to do likewise, Jesus gives us the gift of prayer—not because of any merit or worthiness in us, but because of His.
2. Since Jesus is our great High Priest, we have confidence and boldness to approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace in our time of need (4:14–16; cf 10:19–22). 3. The invitation is both wide and broad: cast “all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Pet 5:7). 4. The promise is sure and certain: “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (Jn 14:13).B. Not only does Jesus give us complete access to the heavenly Father, but he also lives now and forever as our great High Priest to make intercession for his brothers and sisters (7:23–25).
1. We are not left to ourselves in our prayers. Jesus is with us every step, carrying us along (see John Kleinig, Grace upon Grace: Spirituality for Today [St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2008], 156–61).
2. When you are too tired to pray, when you fail to pray, Jesus is praying for you! He is always and forever praying for you. a. Right now, Jesus is praying for you and your needs (cf John 17: Jesus’ high priestly prayer). 1. Assurance of eternal life. 2. To keep you away from the evil one. 3. Be sanctified in God’s truth. 4. Remember where true unity and peace is found: in Christ and in Him alone! b. When you are weary and hanging by a thread, Jesus is praying for you.
Transition
§ Since Christ Jesus has entered the presence of God on our behalf and serves as our great High Priest, and since He has already dealt decisively with sin,
IV. Christ’s coming again in glory gives us hope as we await His return. Verse 28
A. Christ’s appearance signaled “the end of the ages”: 1. His sacrifice marks the fulfillment of time (v 26).B. Since Christ dealt with sin decisively in His first appearance, the author directs his audience to their great hope in Christ’s second appearance, which will bring final salvation to “those who are eagerly waiting for him” (v 28).
C. Even though Christ will someday return to judge the living and the dead, those who are in Christ Jesus need not fear judgment or condemnation but can wait confidently for their blood-bought inheritance to be received in full.
Conclusion
§ The well-known phrase “all for one and one for all” is the motto of Athos, Porthos, and Aramis from Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Three Musketeers. a. The three musketeers joined forces to fight as one against power and corruption—“all for one.” b. And even though they were very different and diverse characters in many ways, their strong spirit of brotherhood led each one of them to defend and fight for the other—“one for all.”
§ In a much greater way, Jesus is the one who is truly “all for one and one for all”! a. All the sacrifices in the Old Testament find their fulfillment, their goal, their end, in His perfect and definitive “once and for all” sacrifice for sin (Heb 9:26). b. As Isaiah long foretold, Christ would indeed bear the iniquities and “the sins of many” (9:28), making “intercession for the transgressors” (Is 53:12). c. Yes, Christ’s “once and for all” sacrifice avails for the many, for all who look to Him, who believe upon Him, and who are “eagerly waiting” for His return (9:28). § Brothers and sisters in Christ, our eternal redemption has been: a. won, b. purchased, c. paid for in full by the perfect blood of Jesus. d. The work is complete! 1. Our salvation and final rest in Jesus is as sure and certain as the sun setting today and rising tomorrow! 2. Come what may today or tomorrow, you belong to Christ, and your great High Priest will see you through this life till He comes again in glory to bring you and all His saints into the fullness of His eternal inheritance. Amen.
§ Let us pray:LSB 563:6 Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness6 Jesus, be endless praise to Thee,Whose boundless mercy hath for me,For me, and all Thy hands have made,An everlasting ransom paid.Text: Public domain
§ 2 Corinthians 13:14 (NASB95) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.
§ Come Lord Jesus, come quickly. All of us are waiting and none of us will be disappointed.
§ The Lord continue to bless us, shine His face on us, be gracious to us, that He lift His countenance upon us, and give us His peace.
§ In the Name of the Father…Amen.
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