The Death of Christ (4)

We've been talking in recent weeks, the last three weeks, actually about the death of Christ in our study of what the Bible teaches about Christ. Looking at Christ from a more of a theological or doctrinal perspective. And so we've been looking at the death of Christ. We've seen its importance. We've looked at the necessity of death of Christ. We looked at the nature of the death of Christ. And last week we started talking about the meaning of the death of Christ. What is really involved in the death of Christ? And remember we talked about the fact that it's one thing just to know that Jesus died for us. That's wonderful. But the Bible goes so much deeper than that and paints the picture so much more broadly. In the sense that there are various words, some of them real theological in nature, some of them more picturesque. Metaphorical. They draw up a picture for us of what is involved in salvation. And there are numerous of these concepts and words that God is, I think, trying to show us that the death of Christ is simple. It is simple enough for a child to place faith in. But it is also deep and complex. And there are so many facets of it and ways to look at it and meanings involved in it. And so that's what we've been kind of reveling in over the past week. We looked at three concepts last week. That the death of Christ can be explained with the word reconciliation, which means remember what is reconciliation. Forgiveness or to make peace, yeah, to make peace is a key concept there. It has to do with a change in the relationship between God and man from enmity to peace, from hostility to friendship. It is that change in the relationship, whereas we were once opposed to each other alienated from him, separated from him. The death of Christ makes it possible for an about face, if you will, and for friendship peace to come about. And that's reconciliation. And then we talked about propitiation. That word is a mouthful, but it is also a great truth. What does that mean? Remember? God is satisfied. I heard someone say back there, okay. His wrath is appeased. Okay, God is satisfied and his wrath is appeased. His righteous anger against sin is completely satisfied. His wrath is taken care of by the death of Christ. So that makes it possible for God to extend mercy and grace to us. Otherwise, we could not be saved. Christ takes the sin question out of the way by satisfying God's holy demands of punishment on sin. That's what propitiation is all about. So that's that aspect of the death of Christ. Then we also looked at justification. What did we see last week's justification was? To be declared righteous, did you say? Even though we're not. Okay, good. That's a good explanation of justification. It literally means to be declared righteous. It is a legal concept. It's a concept of the courtroom in heaven. A legal concept of God declaring us righteous. Not innocent. We're guilty. But he declares us righteous. And the only way that can happen is that he takes the righteousness of Christ and places it on the record book of heaven. Our record book with our name on it. It has the righteousness of Christ on us. That legal change is made where we are declared righteous. That's a wonderful aspect. Okay, tonight we come to the concept of redemption. And this is one of those metaphors. This is one of those word pictures that is used to describe our salvation. What is involved in redemption? What do you think of? It's a term we still use today. Steve? Okay, okay. To free someone from something that's undesirable by paying a penalty. Anything else? Bought off of the slave market. Okay? To add to the concept the picture there. The being freed from something undesirable. The being bought is in the scriptures literal would be purchased out of a slave market. So yeah. That was the concept in the first century. Anything else? Okay. That really is the concept. The basic foundational concept of redemption is to purchase. To purchase back something. And there really are three different concepts. You could call them three different layers. Three different levels maybe of redemption. And there are three different Greek words that were used in the Bible. All of which are translated redeem. But they have a different shade of meaning in the original language. And they really help us to kind of fill out those layers of redemption, those levels of redemption. We're going to look at one passage with each of those three words tonight. The first passage, let's begin in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 20. First Corinthians 6, 20. Familiar passage verse 19 goes with it and we usually couple the two rightly so. So let's read them together. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God, you are not your own. That's key concept that they're at the end. It leads right into verse 20. You are not your own. Why? For you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. We don't belong to ourselves. We're not our own. We are bought at a price. Now the word that's used here is this word, agorazzo. Agorazzo simply means to pay a price. It simply means to lay down a purchase price. In the New Testament it was typically used of buying a slave. This is a society in which slavery was very common. The Roman Empire, it is said, had more slaves in the city of Rome than Freeman. So slavery was very much a part of the Roman culture. So it was common to everybody. Everybody knew how this worked. And so the idea here is to purchase out of a slave market. But this word doesn't complete the concept. This word doesn't take you from beginning to end of the concept. This word simply means to lay down the purchase price. The first step, it doesn't secure the freedom of the slave. It doesn't even release the slave from the slave market. It just talks about paying the purchase price. Now that's a part of redemption. But that's only the first part. So the price is paid, by the way, this is the word that's used in second Peter chapter 2, verse 1, of those false teachers, apostates, who are clearly in chapter 2. Read the whole chapter. Peter says they are going to end up in hell. They are destined for destruction. They are going to be punished with everlasting punishment, he says. But he says they deny the Lord that bought them. So Christ died for them, even though they are going to end up in hell. That's one of the strong passages that teaches that there is some aspect of Christ's death, which affects everybody, which covers everybody, which makes provision for everybody. But this is the word that's used. And it's the most general term. It just means to lay down a price. It does not mean they're going to be saved. And if you're at least from the slave market, this is just the payment price. So it's a clear passage to teach that the payment price is sufficient for everybody, even people that will eventually end up in hell. So that's the first concept here of just paying the price. And the price that is paid is sufficient to cover the sins of everybody. And this is the second word. And this is a word that's used in Galatians chapter 3. Let's look at this passage. Galatians 3. Verse 13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, cursed, as everyone who is hung on a tree. In order for the blessing given to Abraham might come to Gentiles through Christ Jesus so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Twice it has said he redeemed us. Now this is a little different word, similar, but a little different. This word is X agorazzo. It's the same word agorazzo to pay the price. But this prefix X means out of. It's a Greek preposition which means out of. And so this is a step beyond just paying the purchase price. This is to pay the price to take the slave out of the slave market. To purchase out of. So it takes the concept of redemption one step further to buy or purchase out of. Literally you lay down the purchase price. But then this word indicates that you also take the person out of the slave market. And so in the concept of salvation the idea is that Jesus paid the price for everybody on the cross. But those who trust him as savior are actually rescued. Taken out of the slave market of sin and slavery to the kingdom of darkness. And it's King Satan. And so this actually refers to the salvation of those who trust Christ as savior. You see that the concept paid the price. But this means you you are actually bought out of the slave market. But there's another concept that even goes further. And it's totally different word. It's a word used in 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 18. And in our English translations all three of these words are translated the same word redeemed. And this is one of the beauties of Bible study. And you can do this with a commentary. You don't need to know Greek to do this. Most commentaries will help you with this. They'll explain these different words. And one of the beauties beautiful things about Bible study is to grasp these concepts that are communicated. Go way beyond the language that we have our Bible in. See all we know is the one word redeemed. But there are such deep concepts included here. This is a third separate word that's used for redeemed 1 Peter 1 18. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ. A lamb without blemish or defect. This is a third word and it's totally different than the first two. It's the word Lutrao. Now Lutrao has to do with setting free. So it carries the concept of redemption to its conclusion. Not only is the purchase price laid down, not only is the slave bought out of the slave market, but once the master has bought the slave and rescued and delivered him from the slave market, he then sets him free. And that's the concept in the word Lutrao is to be set free. And obviously the concept is to be set free from bondage to sin. It's what Roman 6 is all about. We used to be slaves to sin and Jesus saved us and we are now delivered from that, rescued from that, and we are set free. To live for ourselves, free to do whatever we want to do. No. Roman 6, we are now free to be his slaves, his servants, and the concept of Galatians basically don't use your freedom as an excuse for sinful indulgence, but use it to love one another to live out the command of Christ. You are now his slave. So this freedom is a blessed freedom to be fully committed to Christ. That's what the freedom is in redemption. So with these three different words, the New Testament writers kind of flesh out this wonderful picture of what salvation is, at least this one concept, this one facet of salvation. To lay down a purchase price, to buy us out of the slave market of sin, and then to set us free. To set us free. So there were no longer servants of sin at all. It's a beautiful concept, beautiful word picture. Any comments or questions about the idea of redemption? John? Yes. Yes. Never to be put on the slave market again. And that third word is what communicates that is that once he's bought us out of the slave market, it's not like, okay, you're on probation, and if you mess up, you're going back to the slave market. When we set us free, we're set free, and there's no more tie to that slavery at all. We're completely set free from the bondage to sin. Okay. Anything else? Another word, victory. We're saying tonight victory in Jesus, and this is, we're going to talk a little bit about that victory, and what that means. The death of Christ is a wonderful victory, and it is a victory not just for us, and that's what we typically think of, and that's wonderful. That it provides victory for us over sin, but the concept in salvation is that it is a great victory won by Christ. He's won the battle, and salvation can be seen not only as a redemption. The purchase price has been paid to release us from bondage to sin, but it's also seen as a battle where a victory has been won. And we're going to look at three passages that kind of fleshed that out. First of all, second Corinthians, chapter 2, and verse 14, you have those on your outline, don't you? So you're probably there before I am. But thanks be to God who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphal procession, and uses it to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved, and those who are perishing. I'm going to explain a little bit more about that, but the point in verse 14 is that Christ leads us in a triumphal procession. Now what do you think that's talking about? You might know the cultural background of this, where this comes from, the picture comes from. Exactly. Did everybody hear that? You want the mic? That was great. It does have its background in the Roman culture of a Roman general who would win a battle. What would happen when a battle was won is the Roman general would bring back his soldiers who were victorious in battle and a representative group of captives. And they would be paraded down the streets of Rome in triumphal procession. And it would be a great celebration which would highlight the triumph of the Roman army in this particular battle. That was the way they celebrated. Kind of like what we used to do in our country with ticker tape parades when people would come back from victorious battles or accomplishments, like going to the moon or something like that. And you'd have a ticker tape parade down the streets in New York City. That's kind of what this is. The way they did it in Rome was the Roman general riding on his horse. They would have some of the spoils of battle and they would have some of his soldiers and then some of the captives. Now that is the picture here. Christ is leading us always leading us in a triumphal procession. So the fact that we are his and he says we're being led as captives, a part of that procession and the beautiful part of our pictures captives is that we have been set free. And we are captives that are now being set free from the bondage that we had before. But the picture is of that parade in the streets of Rome. So the victory has been won by Christ and the celebration, the triumph is to feed him and what he has done to set us free from our sin. We're the captives that have been set free from sin. We've been set free from Satan and it's a wonderful, triumphal procession. The actual battle itself and what was accomplished is found better in the next two passages, Colossians 2 and verse 15. Colossians 2, 15 says, and having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them triumphant over them by the cross. The powers and authorities are demonic powers. They're different ranks of angels. And what this passage is highlighting is the fact that Jesus disarmed demonic powers at cross and triumphed over them. So their doom is sure. I mean, the battle's already been won. The sentence hasn't been carried out against them yet, but it will be. It's certain because the battle's already been won. So this is the victory over satanic power here. And that is also highlighted in Hebrews 2. So go ahead and look at that passage as well. Hebrews 2, 14 and 15. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity. We've looked at this passage before, shared in their humanity so that by his death, he might break the power of him who holds the power of death. That is the devil. And free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. So this battle, this victory is highlighted here. The victory is over Satan. And he has taken Satan's captives and now he has freed us who were in bondage to Satan and now we're in that triumphal procession with him. So he's destroyed the power of Satan and set the captives free. So the victory is that is accomplished at the cross, although it includes our victory. Really the victory is a victory that's won by Christ over the powers of Satan and his demons. And we have the opportunity to be paraded as part of that triumphal procession to display the spoils of victory. Comments or questions there on that beautiful concept of salvation. Okay. So salvation is reconciliation. It's a propitiation. It's justification. It's redemption. It is a great victory over Satan and his demons. But the key concept in salvation is this last one. And that is substitutionary sacrifice. We've already looked at that. But what we're going to do is just look at a series of passages about six or so to highlight how common this thread is in Scripture. And it runs all the way through the Old Testament. It begins with the Old Testament sacrifices. Do you remember what a Jewish offerer of a sacrifice would do when he brought his sacrifice to the tabernacle or to the temple to be given to the priest and the priest would slit its neck, drain its blood and do whatever was required in the sacrifices. There were different things that were required in different sacrifices with the body certain parts of it used. Sometimes the whole animal burned. The burnt offering was that way. Sometimes it was just parts of the animal. But do you remember something that the offerer did before the animal was killed? Yes. Coming from both sides here, he put his hand on the sacrifice, on the animal. What was the purpose of that? Transfer. The animal was dying in the place of the offerer. Right? The symbolism there is exactly what you've just heard that the person bringing the sacrifice before the animal was killed would place his hand on the head of the sacrifice, the animal. In a sense, transferring in a picture form here, not literally, but in a picture form transferring my guilt to the one who's going to die. I identify the laying on of hands in the scriptures always had to do with identification of two parties, even in New Testament, laying on of hands for those who go into the ministry and are sent out by the church in X-13 to go into missions. It shows an identification, a close identification of believers with those who are going out on their behalf. So that's always communicated with us, laying on of hands. Well, in this sacrificial system, the laying on of hands identified the offerer with the sacrifice. And basically you're saying, I transfer my guilt to the sacrifice and the animal is going to bear my guilt and be killed on my behalf in my place. It was beautifully pictured in those Old Testament sacrifices. So the whole idea of substitution is communicated time and time and time and time and time again with all the sacrifices of the Old Testament system. Okay, very good. Look at Isaiah 53, this common prophetic picture of our Lord, familiar, really highlights the concept of substitution. Isaiah 53 verse 4, surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds we are healed. I mean, it's just like pounding this nail in with extreme force. About six times in those two verses, the concept of substitution is hammered home. It is so powerful. He took our sins, he bore our suffering, pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. Punishment was on him, the punishment that brought us peace, by his wounds we are healed. Six times it just phrase after phrase of this whole concept of substitution. That the person dying here, the Messiah, the servant, is dying to take the punishment of sinners. Clear, clear, powerful concept of substitutionary sacrifice. Alright, let's look at some New Testament passages. We'll mention these quickly, Matthew 20 verse 28. When Peter and John through their mother came and asked Jesus, want to be on the right hand, want to be on the left, in your kingdom, want to tap to top cabinet positions, in your kingdom and Jesus talks about serventhood. And he ends by saying in verse 28, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Now we kind of skip over that word for, but that's the key word in the concept of substitution. The word for is the Greek preposition on T, which means an exchange, a substitute, or instead of it is a perfect word for substitution. He died instead of the many. Instead of in their place, it's a clear picture of substitution. Second Corinthians, chapter 5 and verse 21 is same thing. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. So there again that word for is the idea of substitution. He was made sin for us. He was made a sin offering. He became the sacrifice. And we are the offerer with our hand on the animal or the substitute, if you will, the Lamb of God and he becomes our sin offering. He takes our sin. Galatians 3, 13, we looked at this passage when we were talking about redemption, but it also mentions substitution. The purpose of the word for is the sacrifice for redemption. The purpose of the word for is the sacrifice for redemption. On behalf of or in place of, it's a different preposition, but it says basically the same thing, just a little different way of saying it. Jesus became a curse on behalf of us or in place of us. One preposition means instead of, this one means in the place of. Both of them have the idea of substitution. 1 Peter 224. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness by his wounds you have been healed. So whose sins was he bearing on the cross? Hours. He was our substitute. He died to pay for our sins. And then the same thing in chapter 3 verse 18, for Christ also suffered once for sins the righteous for the unrighteous. Again, the key word for is that preposition who pair which means on behalf of or in the place of. He died in the place of. The righteous in the place of the unrighteous. So very clearly in all of these passages and others, the concept of a substitutionary sacrifice is a key element of the death of Christ. Any comments or questions about substitution? Okay, we talked about that before when we talked about different views of the death of Christ that he didn't die just to set an example or as a martyr for a cause. He died as a substitute for sinners. He took our sin. So that's the key concept in the death of Christ. Alright, I'm going to move, change gears a little bit here and move to another topic we've talked about the meaning of the death of Christ. Now let's talk a little bit about the finality of the death of Christ. The finality of the death of Christ. And what we mean by that is this. Christ's death was accomplished once for all. It can never be repeated. It can never be added to. It is accomplished once for all. No repetition needed. Christ's work was complete. Totally complete with that one offering his sacrifice on the cross. Now the focus that we're going to look at tonight is in the book of Hebrews. If you have your outline, you can see the scriptures that we're going to list are all in the book of Hebrews. And there's a reason for that primarily Hebrews 9 and 10. And there's a reason for that a very powerful reason with the context of the book of Hebrews. What was the problem that the writer of Hebrews was addressing? What was he warning about? What was going to what was happening that he was alarmed about? Do you remember? Okay, excellent. That's what was happening. The writer of Hebrews is writing to Jewish Christians to Hebrews. And we don't know for sure who that writer was. Many think because of the language and the concepts that may have been Paul, but he doesn't identify himself. So whoever it was, the writer of the Hebrews is writing to Hebrew Christians, Jewish Christians. Now he's writing at a time when persecution is intense in the 60s, AD persecution really ratcheted up. It was really bad. That's when Nero was in power and he was really persecuting believers. Peter was killed during this time. Paul was killed in that decade. So Christians were being martyred. And this was a very difficult time for believers. Many of these Jewish believers were tempted to take the easy way out. And before we become too critical, maybe we should take a good hard look at ourselves and say, if I were in that situation, what would I do? Would I stand in the face of certain death? And there were some who were saying, you know, I think what we ought to do is we'll go back to the temple, which was still standing. It wasn't destroyed till the Romans took it down in 70 AD. We'll go back to the temple, to the Jewish sacrificial system, and kind of go under the radar. We'll kind of go underground as believers. We'll still maintain our faith in Christ, but it's just not going to be out there out front and visible. We're going to make it look like we're still, you know, a part of the Jewish faith so that we don't lose our lives. It was a compromise. And quite honestly, we would be tempted with that same compromise if our lives were being threatened. Many through church history have caved into that kind of compromise. But the writer to the book of the Hebrews is his whole point is, you can't do that. You cannot go back to Judaism. And one of his main arguments is that you're going to go back to a system where sacrifices are repeated over and over and over and over again. And you know those old testament sacrifices, they were pointing toward one ultimate sacrifice, the sacrifice of Christ. That's been accomplished. And you're going to go back to a system that was designed to point forward to that. And which now is not needed. Now the Christ sacrifice is done. But but is a total waste because it is still repeated over and over and over and over again. He makes his point in the book of Hebrews that this flies in the face of the very meaning of the cross and the work of Christ on the cross. It denies the whole basis of our salvation to go back to that. You cannot go back to that. In fact, he makes the point pretty clearly that if you do, then you're evidencing the fact that you're not genuinely saved. I mean, if you understand this issue and you still go back, then you've turned your back on Christ and you're showing that you're not genuinely saved. That's the reason for the four warning passages in the book. And I'm not going to get into those tonight because they are complex to say the least. But his whole point is this. I'm going to stress for you the finality of Christ's death. And you cannot go back to a system that repeats sacrifices over and over again because the one sacrifice in Christ has done away with all of that. And it's far better than all of that is the fulfilling of all of that. Now, with that background, look at what he says in Hebrews 7. Look at a couple of verses here and then we'll really focus on chapter 9. Hebrews 7 verses 26 and 27. He's comparing Christ's priesthood in this section of the book with the Old Testament priesthood. There are a number of comparisons and contrasts in the book of Hebrews. One of them is Christ's priesthood is better than the Old Testament priesthood. You're thinking about going back to. Okay. And so 7.25 or 26. He says such a high priest speaking of Jesus, verse 25. He's interceding for us. Such a high priest truly meets our need. One who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens, unlike the other high priests. I.e. the temple, the Old Testament priest, unlike those priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day. First for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, he sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. You see the contrast? See his point? You're going to go back to a system where you have human priests who are not always holy and blameless and separate from sinners and exalted above the heavens. They don't fit that category, but you're going to go back to priests who over and over and over again offer sacrifices day after day. First they have to offer them for their own sins and then for the sins of the people when you have a savior who did it one time, one time, once for all when he offered himself. You can't go back to that. That system denies everything that Jesus did for you on the cross. But he really makes the point powerfully in chapter 9, chapter 9, verses 11 and 12, verse, the first 10 verses of chapter 9 remind the readers of the earthly tabernacle, the earthly temple, and how that was set up and what it was designed to show by way of approach to God. And then he draws the contrast in verse 11. But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the most holy place, speaking of heaven. He entered that most holy place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. Christ's sacrifice was done once and the result of it is eternal. Obviously it doesn't need to be repeated. If the result of the one sacrifice is eternal, how do you add to that? How do you repeat that? How do you do anything that would supplement that? His sacrifice was done once for all and it obtained eternal redemption. Those sacrifices in the temple that were repeated once a year for the atonement of the people, and daily to keep them within the covenant confines of relationship with God on the nation. Those sacrifices had to be repeated over and over again because they didn't do anything eternal. They were temporary. They only provided for a period of time and kind of covered things up, made things right for a period of time. But this sacrifice obtained eternal redemption. It's good for all time. That one sacrifice. And then notice what he says in verse 24 where he describes what this heavenly tabernacle is. It's heaven itself. This beginning verse 23 where the paragraph starts. It was necessary then for the copies of heavenly things, talking about the earthly tabernacle, to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these for Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands. That was only a copy of the true one. He entered heaven itself. That's the true tabernacle. The true tabernacle of which the earth one was just a representation. It was designed even its layout to represent how you come into the presence of God. Well, the true tabernacle I personally do not believe it's a literal building in heaven. Why do you need the building again when you've got the reality? The true tabernacle is heaven itself. That's the presence of God. The true tabernacle is you get to go literally into his presence in heaven. You don't need to go through another building. The purpose of the building on earth was to represent what's in heaven. And so the true tabernacle is heaven. Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands. It was only a copy of the true. He entered heaven itself. Now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again the way the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood that is not his own. You see all these contrasts? Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as people are destined to die once and after that face judgment. So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many and he will appear a second time not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. When Christ comes back again, his point is not going to be to bring another sacrifice. Not going to be to die again. It's going to be to reign to rule. There's only one time he's going to die and that was good for all. It was done once in contrast the many sacrifices in the Old Testament. It was done to complete the work of salvation in that one offering. One final passage and that is chapter 10 verses 10 to 14. Again the contrast with the Old Testament system and by that will I come to do your will verse 9 by that will we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. He's really nailing this home is not. Verse 11 day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties again and again he offers the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. He's going to take away sins. He's talking about the Old Testament sacrificial system there. He's repeated over and over and over again. He can never take away sins. Verse 12. But when this priest Christ had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins he sat down at the right hand of God. Now there are two contrasts in this picture. One is the picture of Old Testament priests offering sacrifices again and again over and over and over again because they couldn't really take away sin and Jesus offers his sacrifice once. Once for all but the other picture is the priests in the Old Testament system in the tabernacle and temple standing because their work is never done. They have to keep keep offering sacrifices and so they're on their feet all the time. But what did Jesus do offered one sacrifice in verse 12 and then did what sat down. It's a beautiful picture. He's done. The Old Testament priests have to stand and feed all time because it's always more sacrifices. They've got to be offered but not Jesus. One sacrifice he's done. He sits down. Completed work. Verse 13 and since that time he waits. He waits for another sacrifice. He waits to die again. No. He waits for his enemies to be made his foot still. He's waiting simply for the outworking of the cross and what it will do. Victory over all of his enemies. Verse 14. 4. By one sacrifice he is made perfect forever. Those who are being made holy. Christ's one sacrifice gives us a perfect standing before God forever. You can't get any more complete than that. Real quickly there are three things that we can't just leave it here. There are three things that are corrected. This is a correction to three years. First of all, sacramentalism. And what we mean by that is salvation through sacraments or ordinances. You see, there are those who teach that whenever you take the Lord's Supper, it is a sacrament which means to convey saving grace. And that it actually communicates salvation. It is a fresh sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ. Well, the book of Hebrews puts a death nail to that. Christ's sacrifice never is to be repeated. It was done once. The communion or the Lord's Supper is simply to remember. It's for us to have something in our hands that we can remember it by, but it doesn't become a fresh sacrifice of Christ. Otherwise, the book of Hebrews is all wrong. He died once for all. So it corrects the error of sacramentalism. It also corrects the error of legalism. That you can add something to the work of the cross to gain your salvation. If you can add anything, including baptism, to the work of Christ on the cross, then you have violated the teaching of the book of Hebrews. Because the death of Christ once for all gave us a perfect standing before God forever. You can't add anything to it. And it also corrects the error of universalism. Universalism is that in the end, everybody will be saved. God will give people a second chance after death. So if that's the case, then there is salvation apart from the cross and apart from receiving Christ's death for your salvation. The idea that God will somehow show mercy to everybody, even though they've rejected Christ and he's worked on the cross, is in a front to God and what he gave for us in his son. And so this clear teaching of the finality of Christ's death corrects those kinds of errors. Okay. The time is up in a couple of minutes past, but any quick question before we go. All right. Let's pause for prayer. Father, we are grateful to you for the sacrifice of Christ for us, that substitution for our sins, which was perfect, complete, once for all. Thank you for the finality of it and that nothing can be added to it. It cannot be repeated. We thank you that it was so perfect that it only needed to be done once and that Jesus is now seated at your right hand, making intercession for us. Father, we thank you for the perfect salvation that we have in Christ. Certainly it is all of grace. It is all because of your love and the sacrifice of Christ. It is not of us. Not unto us. Not unto us. Oh Lord, but unto you be the glory forever and ever. Amen.