It is Accomplished: Man's Righteousness, Part 1

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Hebrews 10, 16, and 17 tell us that in this new covenant through Jesus, God will put His law on our hearts and write it in our minds, and that He will remember our sins no more. Our status and our future are sealed through Jesus' sacrifice, and as we pursue the heart of our Lord, He continually works to change us, not our outside only, but starting with our attitudes and our desires.

Let's listen to today's message from Hebrews 10, 11-23 titled, It is Accomplished, Man's Righteousness. Sacrifices. Animals are being slaughtered.

Their blood is being poured out. Those sacrifices were happening. Hebrews 10, verse 11, And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sin. When the Hebrews was written, it was before the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. And so that's why he writes it as if this is what's going on repeatedly.

It's still going on. And the writer of Hebrews is saying it in the sense these guys, they're doing something that they don't need to do. They are trying to make atonement.

Atonement has been made once and for all. And they're just too busy because they're doing something that isn't necessary. They're doing something to try to acquire redemption. It could be that you're a very busy person here this morning. And maybe you're too busy. Maybe you're so busy doing stuff and spiritual stuff and doing things for God to try to gain His favorable opinion of you. Let me say to you this morning on the authority of the Word of God that you're wasting your time. You can't do stuff to gain God's favorable opinion of you.

It doesn't work. It says they're offering repeatedly the same sacrifices. And the writer of Hebrews says it doesn't need to happen.

Why? Because what's the first word of verse 12? But, and there's a contrast.

There's a contrast coming here. But this man, speaking of Jesus Christ, our high priest. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. There he is, our high priest, who is also the Lamb of God, the sacrifice, who takes away the sin of the world.

He sat down. Done. One sacrifice for sins forever.

That's it. And the one sacrifice was a very weighty one. It was a very significant, very important one. Because it was one life of infinite purity that was forfeited. Because the only thing that can atone for sin is the forfeiture of life. So this one forfeited his life. He sacrificed it freely.

He laid it down. And he did so in my place and he did so in your place. And when he was done, he sat down next to the throne, the throne of God, near to the Father where he wants us. And if I am in Christ, I am there next to the throne, near God. This is what our high priest does. This is the work that he has accomplished for us.

You're going to find something today, and I'm going to repeat this several times throughout because it's very important for you to get this. As we go through this passage today, there aren't a lot of imperatives. What do I mean by imperatives? Commands. The Bible says do this.

It's not there. What we have before us are indicatives. This is what's true. This is what God has done. This is what God has done for you. We have to know the indicatives of scripture, otherwise the imperatives wouldn't make sense. And if all we do is just simply follow the imperatives, and I look at the Bible and it says, okay, the Bible gives you a bunch of commands. The Bible says do this and do this and do this and this. Then if I do that, I'm going to end up being so busy trying to gain God's favorable opinion of me. And I need to remember that those imperatives are because the indicatives are true. The imperatives are the natural outflow of grasping the indicatives. Let's be careful that we don't become very busy trying to gain God's favorable opinion, just looking at the Bible as a bunch of commands that tells us how to live.

Let's understand this warning. This is what God says is true about you and me, which is very important to understand. As we said before, as the writer of Hebrews, give us the illustration.

You know, it's time. The illustration that I used was faith is surrender yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ. You've got to be completely in the boat. You can't have one foot in the boat and one on the dock because there's no rescue there. The dock represents being busy to please God. The boat represents the actual rescue that will get you to the Father. That boat's going to take off. You can't have one foot in the boat and one on the dock and be rescued.

You've got to be all the way in the boat. We call that faith, surrendering yourself to Jesus Christ. If that's true of you this morning, then what the Bible says is true is what we have just spoken of.

What this one has done, the great high priest, this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. Verse 13, then, gives us a bright outlook. Verse 13 says, from that time, waiting till his enemies are made his footstool.

What is that? When his enemies are made his footstool, that means when everything will be as it ought to be. When everything will be as it ought to be. I have news for you. Things right now, today, all things are not as they ought to be. Did you ever realize that?

Let me share with you a secret, and I always hesitate to use that because a secret sounds like, whoa, I have this revelation that there's no way you could know it unless I revealed it to you. This is just the word of God, okay? But if you wake up in the morning on a beautiful, crisp, sunny morning like this, and you're thinking, what a beautiful morning, everything's going my way, and let's make sure that today everything goes my way. It can't happen. So don't set yourself up for disappointment because things are not as they ought to be. If you pursue in a day and you think that you can arrive at complete satisfaction on this side of eternity, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. It can't happen because we live in a fallen, groaning, created order. Creation groans. It waits for the day of redemption.

The day is coming. The Bible says it right here in verse 13, when everything will be as it ought to be. When righteousness rules the day, righteousness will be the characteristic of every day. And what does righteousness mean? When things are as they ought to be, it means that everyone, you and me and all those around us, will be freely desiring and fully delighting in God's perfect, holy character and purpose without distraction.

When things will be as they ought to be. This is indicated in Revelation chapter 21 and verse 27. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Who are those that are written in the Lamb's Book of Life?

Those that have both feet in the boat. You are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life if you have a foot in the boat and the one still on the dock, thinking that you have to be busy to try to gain a favorable opinion from God. Written in the Lamb's Book of Life, then you will experience when things will be as they ought to be. But that's not right now. Right now we still live in these corruptible tents. Right now we're still in the context of a fallen, created order.

Yes, we see the beauty of God, but look a little farther and you'll see the despair, the destruction, the death. It's all around. Things are not as they ought to be. So until that time, until verse 13 happens, in the meantime, God says there's two things that I want you to know. If you are a Christian here this morning, if you are in Christ, if you are a person that has both feet in the boat, you have surrendered yourself in faith to Jesus Christ, then the Bible says this morning there are two things that are true about you. Now I'm going to harp on something again here, okay? It's what I just said a few minutes ago.

These are indicative. This is not a command. This isn't the Bible says go do this. Let's be very careful that we don't just look at the Bible as a bunch of commands that says the Bible says go do. We have to know the indicative of scripture because if we don't know the indicative, then the imperative don't make any sense. And if the Bible is nothing but a bunch of imperatives, a bunch of commands, then we will become like all other religious systems being so busy trying to gain a favorable opinion of God. It doesn't work.

It doesn't work. So, if you are a Christian here this morning, you need to know Hebrews 10-14. You need to memorize that.

You need to know what it says. Hebrews 10-14 is a profound verse. It is chock full of truth that you and I need to know and we need to understand about ourselves. It's true about God and it's true about what He has done for you and me. For by one offering, He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Hebrews 10-14. Two things are true of every believer. Number one, you have been perfected forever. If you are in Christ, if you are a person who has both feet in the boot, you have surrendered yourself to Jesus Christ, the Bible says that what's true about you is that you have been perfected forever. For by one offering, He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. What does perfected forever mean? It means you have right standing before God. It means you have been accepted by God.

You have God's favorable opinion of you and nothing increases that, nothing decreases that. You have been perfected forever. In other words, what is true about me having been perfected forever is that I have a holiness that allows me to fellowship with Holy God.

Infinite, sovereign, holy God now can have fellowship with me, a finite, sinful rebel. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace weekdays at 10 a.m.