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How We Are Perfected for Eternal Life
(Chapter 10)
Fred R. Coulter—January 23, 2004
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We covered last time the covenant that God the Father and Jesus Christ had, so we'll review just some of these verses and we'll go on from there. In going through and understanding about the book of Hebrews, it really becomes evident that people have been so 'religionized' and 'traditionized' that what is Christianity? Of course, it's a misnomer to say 'Judeo-Christianity,' because Christianity did not come out of Judaism. Christianity came from Christ Who was the Son of God, and that's what the book of Hebrews is telling us and teaching us.
In the sermon series Scripturalism vs Judaism, we do a survey of the book of Matthew to show right from the very beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist, there was a complete severing of ties with Judaism and the temple. That's why God chose John the Baptist who was the son of a priest, and he did not begin his ministry at the temple; he began his ministry away from the temple down at the River Jordan and that's why the priests and the scribes and the Pharisees all came down—because they knew he was the son of a priest—and asked him:
- Who are you?
- Are you the Christ? No!
- Are you that prophet? No!
- Are you Elijah? No!
Later, Jesus said he was Elijah, but John didn't know that. What did he answer? John said, 'I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.' What is that telling you? That the whole religious system and the perversion of the temple worship that was there in Jerusalem was a spiritual wilderness, and it was so overrun with traditions and religion and false teachings. However it hung on the framework of the Sabbath and Holy Days, which then becomes a very profound and clever counterfeit. You can look in the Bible and say, 'Oh yes, you have to keep the Sabbath, true.' The Pharisees come along and say, 'Then you must keep it this way.' That's why Jesus came along and said, 'No, here is what the Sabbath is for.'
The book of Hebrews is an extension beyond that, and it's written to those who were Greek-speaking Jews who were formally in Judaism, as we have seen. What the book of Hebrews does is that it tells us what God is doing and what Jesus Christ is doing
- compared to the law
- compared to the temple
- compared to the sacrifices
- compared to the washings and rituals and oblations
After the temple was destroyed, Judaism had a tough time. Since we can't offer sacrifices for the removal of sin, what do we do? They added a lot of other traditions, and that's where you get into a lot of 'good' works. The big mistake that they made was that they said, 'Since the temple is no longer standing, and since we can't go to the temple to do these things, therefore, we're going to create all of these laws so that each follower of Judaism will be as clean as a priest'—which is an impossibility! You cannot have your house as clean as the temple was. That's why they have all of these laws.
If you don't have the book The Code of Jewish Law, or if you have never heard of it, then:
- you do not understand Judaism
- you do not understand what Christ did
- you do not understand what dead works are;
- you do not understand what Paul has written in Romans or Galatians either one
—and it's hard for you to understand what has been written here in the book of Hebrews.
Hebrews 10:1: "For the priestly law, having only a shadow of the good things that are coming, and not the image of those things, with the same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, is never able to make perfect those who come to worship."
Verse 11: "Now, every high priest stands ministering day-by-day… [not only is it year-by-year, but it's day-by-day] …offering the same sacrifices repeatedly, which are never able toremove sins." They had forgiveness and justification only to the temple; that was it. They did it year-by-year, day-by-day.
Verse 2: "Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered?…." That's compared to Christ. How many times was He offered? Once! Is He offered again? No!
Hebrews 9:24 shows that it's one sacrifice: "For Christ has not entered into the Holy places made by human hands…" He never went into the temple, into the Holy of Holies; He could not do that because He was not of the family of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi.
"…which are mere copies of the true; rather, He has entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" (v 24). This is a greater thing, and we have a living priest.
Verse 25: "Not that He should offer Himself many times, even as the high priest enters into the Holy of Holies year by year with the blood of others; for then it would have been necessary for Him to suffer many times since the foundation of the world…." (vs 25-26).
Let's stop and think about something here for just a minute. One of the greatest misnomers that there is in the world; one of the greatest deceptions that there is in the world, which lies in the so-called Judeo-Christian religion—especially in the Catholic Church—is that they have a priesthood. Nowhere does the New Testament show that there is a priesthood or a hierarchical priesthood over the people. They also say that the priest is halfway between God and man, and that when they have the Eucharist or the Mass, this becomes important, that they are literally sacrificing Christ again. That's why it's called the sacrifice of the Mass.
And furthermore, blasphemously, they claim that the priest has the power to call the presence of Christ into the bread and wine! Such a practice completely negates the work of Jesus Christ and binds people in slavery to a hierarchical priesthood, which is not teaching the Truth of God! We need to understand and realize that. If that makes you angry, and if you think that is anti-Catholic, then you need to understand something very clearly: The Truth of God cuts across everyone's life because they are all sinners! These things are stated not to attack or be against, but to expose the error from the Truth.
Stop and ask before you get angry and mad, why is it that the Word of God is called the Truth of God? Yet, the priests say, 'You can't understand unless I'm there to interpret it, and if you read the Bible, you'll go crazy.' Sure enough, if you try to reconcile the practices of the churches of this world with what is in the Bible; if you take the Bible literally as the Truth of God, you're like a person standing on a crack that has been opened by an earthquake, and you've got one foot in the Bible and one foot in the church and it is going to split you in two because you cannot reconcile it. What you have to do is choose God's way. With this kind of practice, they are crucifying Christ every single time they offer the Mass. You need to think about that.
"…But now, once and for all, in the consummation of the ages, He has been manifested for the purpose of removing sin through His sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this, the judgment…" (vs 26-27).
As in Adam we all die because we have the law of sin and death in us and we're going to die. No one has turned it back, not even the Pharaohs. Every time you look at a mummy, you're looking at a dead man.
Verse 28: "So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear the second time without sin … [without being a sin offering] …unto salvation to those who are eagerly awaiting Him."
As we go through this in Heb. 10, I want you to understand what Christ has done what and God the Father has done to make if possible for you not only to have salvation and forgiveness of sin, but to go on beyond that to be perfected for eternal life, and to have the great and fantastic blessing of—through prayer and God's Spirit—direct access to God the Father through Jesus Christ in the true sanctuary in heaven above. And you don't need a man as an intercessor, except the One Who became Jesus Christ—He is your Intercessor.
Since He is your Intercessor, can any man do better than Him? Can any saint do better than Him? And if you pray to saints and if you pray to Mary, you're praying to people who have died and are not in heaven and await the resurrection; that system binds you to idolatry. That's why this book of Hebrews was written. The temple was soon to be destroyed, and God was now letting it be known to all those that He has called that it doesn't matter what happens to the temple, you have direct access to God the Father in heaven above, and that's the whole sum of Heb. 10.
Hebrews 10:2: "Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered? For once those who worship had been purified, they would no longer be conscious of sin."
This is something that we need to understand: Though we have the law of sin and death in us and though we are fighting human nature to overcome—which we need to and the Scriptures show that there's no doubt about that—God has a process with His Spirit, through Jesus Christ, that you can put the sins behind you and not have consciousness of those sins except as a lesson to not do that. The reason is because God's way is so fantastic that He is bringing you to Him, which then has a profound and deep and lasting and tremendous change in your life to where you don't have consciousness of sin. If you do sin, you repent and have that wiped away so that you won't be living in sin.
Verse 3: "On the contrary, in offering these sacrifices year by year, there is a remembrance of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (vs 3-4).
Let's understand something else here: If it's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin, how can the sacrifice of the Mass take away sin when a man is the key figure in commanding God? It cannot! God will not be bound by any man!
Just as the animal sacrifices were only of a minimal effect and in the long run could not do away with sin, likewise with many of the things called the Eucharist, the sacrifice of the Mass, communion and so forth, fall into the same category. The truth is, unless you take the Passover the way that Jesus did at the time He commanded, and understand that the bread and wine are only symbols of the New Covenant—not His actual body, not His actual blood—then you have no forgiveness of sin and you are not in covenant with God. That's the big lie that is out there!
I have been thinking of doing an article and entitle it Lies from the Pulpit. If you come to church, what do you come to church for? If you're interested in God, you want to hear the Word of God. You come to church to hear the Truth. Then lies are presented to you as Truth! Isn't that the cleverest invasion of Satan the devil, to get right into the pulpit, to have men actually use the Bible and preach lies? That's astounding!
We have already covered vs 5-10, how they prepared a body. He came to do His will. This is in this series #27: The Covenant Between God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Verse 12: "But He, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God."
Since Paul is comparing the physical priesthood of the tribe of Aaron and the temple with the priesthood of Christ, the comparison is this: The priests went into the Holy of Holies only once a year on the Day of Atonement; only long enough to offer the sacrifices and sprinkle the blood as described in Lev. 11. It is important to understand that no physical priest has ever sat down in the presence of God! This gives you a great comparison between the priesthoods. That's why it says, 'higher than the heavens' is the priesthood of Christ (Heb. 7 & 8). He went into the Holy of Holies in heaven above and has sat down on the right hand of God.
We're going to learn how great this is and what a fantastic blessing and privilege that it is to actually be able to do this. That's why Satan comes into the pulpits and brings his lies, because if there is a lie it cuts you off from God, and that's what he wants to do. If he can cut you off from God while you think you are in contact with God, he has got you perfectly wrapped up, without a doubt!
"…sat down at the right hand of God." Let's look at some things concerning the right hand of God. I tell you what God has done, what Christ has done, is absolutely fantastic, and I want you to see we are going through here when we talked about the covenant between Christ and the Father and 'prepare me a body,' we're going to go to the application of the blood of Christ. What are we talking about with the body and the blood? We are talking about the New Covenant, and it all ties together just fantastically!
Psalm 16:7—this is a prophecy of Christ, a prophecy of His relationship with God: "I will bless the LORD Who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the nights. I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand…" (vs 7-8).
If Jesus Christ is at the right hand of God the Father—which He is—Jesus Christ is there to be at your right hand. Think about that! How much power does Christ have to strengthen us to overcome sin? to strengthen us to love Him? Just like your right hand!
"…I shall not be moved. Therefore, My heart is glad, and My glory rejoices; My flesh also shall rest in safety, for You will not abandon My soul to the grave… [a direct prophecy of the resurrection of Christ] … neither will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will make known to Me the path of life…" (vs 8-11).
That's what Christ is doing for us. This is part of some of the things that we need to realize that the Word of God is doing for us:
- Walk in faith!
- Believe in hope!
- Live in love!
What is the quickest summary of the New Testament? You have it right there: Walk in faith, believe in hope and live in love!
Psalm 17:5: "My steps have held fast to Your paths, my feet have not slipped. I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God; incline Your ear to me; hear my speech" (vs 5-6).
We are going to see how absolutely marvelous that is in the New Testament and with access to God the Father and Jesus Christ. We have all lived in a world that's so filled with 'religion,' we do not understand the relationship that God wants to have with us, and the strength and power of Christ in us and use of the Holy Spirit of God in growing, changing and overcoming.
It has to be like it is here: "…incline Your ear to me; hear my speech. Show Your marvelous loving kindness, O Savior of those seeking refuge in You; by Your right hand save them from those who rise up against them" (vs 6-7). Every battle, every difficulty you have, God can overcome.
Let's again see some of the words of Christ, Psalm 118:16: "The right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of the LORD does valiantly."
These are given so that in our battles and fights in overcoming we can come to God rather than let ourselves get frustrated and depressed and downtrodden. Some people get downright mad at God because God doesn't make things comfortable. 'Religious' people think that they should not have a single trial, absolutely nothing go wrong, and anybody who has anything go wrong or has a trial has got to be in wrong-standing with God.
Of course, Jesus Christ showed that's not the case. Look what He did! Look what He went through! Whatever trials or difficulties we have, those are there so that we will turn to God and trust in His strength and look to Him, and He is right there to help.
There it is, v 16: "The right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of the LORD does valiantly. I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the LORD" (vs 16-17).
God has promised you eternal life! Most people would be satisfied to have wealth and riches and a pleasant life now, but even as Christ said, 'If you gain the whole world and lose your soul, what do you have?' You have nothing!
Verse 18: "The LORD has sorely chastened me; but He has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, and I will praise the LORD" (vs 18-19). God is going to provide a way. It says that with every temptation that comes along, 'He'll provide a way of escape' (1-Cor. 10:13).
Verse 20: "This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it…. [then this blends into the resurrection and so forth] …I will praise You, for You have answered me and have become my salvation" (vs 20-21). Understand this:
- God will hear every prayer
- God will answer every prayer
according to:
- His will
- His power
- in His way
—because we have a High Priest that's after the order of Melchisedec that lives forever.
Psalm 110:1: "The LORD said unto my Lord…"—showing the Father and the Son, both called Lord. We know that David didn't have another Lord over him. Did David have someone over him beside God? No!
"…'Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies as Your footstool.' The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion saying, 'Rule in the midst of Your enemies'" (vs 1-2).
Have you ever had it where people were after you? I mean, really after you? I have had that within the Church. {See sermons: The Resignation; The Rest of the Story #s 1 & 2}
I had some of the top men in the church that I belonged to—that was a hierarchical church—in which I was a minister and I was fighting against all their lies, deception, infighting and things like this, and they were after me. Sometimes God will let you get in a situation that it seems like you're going to be absolutely devoured with their threats. But God took care of all of the enemy, just like it says here, He took care of them! He will take care of your enemies, but you have to leave it in God's hands. You have to do what you can do. What you do is that you always stand for the Truth and you always are faithful to God regardless of the circumstances around! That's what God wants you to do, and leave the battle to Him.
He took care of them. It was actually fantastic: On a Tuesday, with the threat of being kicked out of the ministry and accused of many things that were not true, Dolores and I went home very shattered. On Thursday, the man who gave the accusations left the Church. On Friday, his boss who was the administrator of Church Administration—who, in vengeance, was coming after me—was fired! So, this just goes to show you that God can take care of things better than you.
- Did we have low times? Oh, yes!
- Was there a fierce battle going on? Yes!
- Was it difficult? Yes!
- Did God give the victory? Yes!
Always does!
Verse 3: "Your people will offer themselves in the day of Your power, in the beauties of Holiness from the womb of the morning: Yours is the dew of Your youth…. [that's just a metaphor for eternal life] …The LORD has sworn and will not repent…" (vs 3-4).
When God swears, let's understand that's pretty powerful. Every word that God speaks is truth. Men swear because they're giving an oath that they are going to tell the truth. God doesn't need to swear, but when He does, and He swears by Himself, this is a statement based upon His very existence! If it is based on His existence, what's going to happen? It's going to come to pass!
Verse 4: "The LORD has sworn and will not repent, 'You are a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec.'" That's of Christ! That's why we don't need any other priest. That's why we do not need any man to intercede for us. Christ became a man and He is our High Priest and lives forever to make intercession for us, and He has given us so many promises.
Someone said, 'Why don't you give a sermon on the promises of God?' I'd have to read the whole Bible, because the whole Bible contains the promises of God fulfilled, being fulfilled, and yet to be fulfilled. Every word is part of the Covenant of God. Every word is viable through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Someone asked me: 'When did you decide to translate the New Testament?' And I said, 'Well, I really didn't sit down one day and say I'm going to do it and start out.' We used study translations like we have here with Hebrews—first one book, then another book, then another book, then another book. Then one day I got the New Testament and Psalms an Inclusive Version. By that time I had done about half the books in the New Testament, and that was in 1995, and the Inclusive Version is the neuter-gender version.
It blew me away when I read that they had changed the name of God the Father from the Father, to 'Father/Mother' and the Son of God to the 'Child.' I said that's it! If no answer is given to that and that is allowed to stand, then we're going to be held liable by God for not standing for the Truth. That's when I decided to do the whole New Testament, because they were so corrupting the Word of God.
Christ is the ultimate Word of God. Through the ultimate Son of God and Hebrews is the proof of the Divinity of Christ. Of course, it starts right out in the very beginning how much greater Christ is.
Hebrews 1:1: "God, Who spoke to the fathers at different times in the past and in many ways by the prophets… [it covers the greatest prophet, Moses (Heb. 3)] …has spoken to us in these last days by His Son, Whom He has appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the ages" (vs 1-2).
If you want to have contact with someone important, are not God the Father and Jesus Christ the most important in the whole universe? What we are going to come to is that God has called us so that we can fellowship with Him in preparation for eternal life!You stop and think of it! If you attain to the Kingdom of God, you're actually going to have lived in three levels of existence:
- conception and in the womb
That's a short existence, only nine months, but nevertheless it is an existence different than after you are born into the world—is it not? Yes, indeed!
- the existence after you are born
You are breathing air and eating food and all this sort of thing and you live 70-80 years, provided nothing untoward happens.
And all of that is in preparation
- for eternal life, where at the resurrection you are born again
Now You have another whole level of existence. So this is quite something when you think of it.
I gave a sermon at the Feast of Tabernacles years ago called, From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God. {Note book: From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why were You Born?} Our existence began as small as a pen-point mark on a piece of paper! Isn't that astounding? All of this testifies to the glory of God anyway, so He has spoken to us by His Son, by Whom He made all things.
Verse 3: "Who, being the brightness of His glory and the exact image of His person, and upholding all things… [the universe and everything that there is] …by the word of His own power… [that's how faithful and trustworthy that Jesus is] …when He had by Himself purged our sins… [God is the One Who purged our sins and this is the whole theme and story of the book of Hebrews] …sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."
You can get out your concordance and look up the right hand of God and that's where Christ is.
Hebrews 10:13: "Since that time, He is waiting until His enemies are placed as a footstool for His feet."
God has a unique way of dealing with His enemies. He doesn't intervene and cut them off right when they start coming to power; witness Pharaoh and the account of the Exodus. God let him exalt himself tremendously. God cuts down the enemy at the height of his power. It's easy to defeat an enemy if he's just starting. Project that forward to the end-time and what do we have?
- We have mankind at the greatest height of his power.
- We have the beast who is the greatest human being that has ever been of the human system under Satan the devil.
- We have the false prophet who has great miracles that he does, unheard of in the history of the world—outside of the miracles of Christ—and rules the world and control the world.
That's when Christ is going to intervene and fight against them, and He is going to make them His footstool. The earth is the footstool of God. That's something! You can also look up footstool. Look up all of those things concerning overcoming the enemy and how He has done it and the way He will do it.
Verse 14: "For by one offering He… [How this goes right back to Heb. 1 that we just read] …has obtained eternal perfection for those who are sanctified"—to be set aside for a Holy use and purpose. You are sanctified by God through the power of the Holy Spirit! You then are Holy to God.
That's why we are referred to in the New Testament as 'Holy brethren.' That's why we are all also called 'saints.' Notice it is a continuous, progressive thing. Those who are being sanctified—present tense, passive participle—God is doing the work. What is He doing this for? He is qualifying us for fellowship with God! That's what it's for.
We are sanctified by the Spirit; we are also sanctified by the Word of God. That becomes important when we read the statement that He is writing His laws and His commandments in our hearts and in our minds. That's how we are being perfected. This perfection is happening in our lives because we are sanctified; we are being perfected for eternal life. That's why it's called eternal perfection. It can only come from God Who is eternal. This is all part of the grace of God as we grow and overcome, and we are being prepared for eternal life while we now have fellowship with God. That's the tremendous thing that we need to comprehend.
John 17:17—Jesus is praying to the Father says here the Lord's Prayer: "Sanctify them in Your Truth… [Why so many lies from the pulpit?] …Your Word is the Truth."
Let's see that not only the Word of God, but also by the Spirit of God. God is doing something special in our lives.
Romans 15:13: "May the God of hope fill you now with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope and in the power of the Holy Spirit."
That in itself is a whole sermon really. You look at this and go back the other way: If you are not believing, you don't have peace! Just like James says, that if you ask for something and you don't have faith, you're like a wave that's 'tossed to and fro by the wind.' "…that you may abound in hope…" Never giving up even though circumstances look the worst.
Let me just mention something here that we need to face. Someone saw a picture of a Feast site and said, 'My, we are an old church'—which is basically true. We are because God is perfecting you, that's why. You don't take brand new babes in Christ and perfect them instantly. They may be perfected at their stage where they are, but they have a long way to go. God delights in the very fact that there are many who have been faithful and are enduring and are going to cross the finish line before Christ returns. That is going to happen. We need to look at it in the sense of God has finished the work in them, so we can rejoice in that. When they pass and go to their place of safety in the grave, we are sad because they have gone, but we're happy because they have endured to the end and they shall be saved.
That's why we need to keep abounding in hope and so forth and just realize that when you come to the very crisis of your life—which we all will, because we read earlier that as 'in Adam we all die'—and there comes a time to die; God made it that way. This old 'corpus nephesh' is not eternal, it's just not. God is going to give you:
- a new mind
- a new body
- eternal life
- glory
So therefore, as we come down the line, because when all of the seniors are perfected and cross the finish line, God still has work for us to do for those who are left behind. God will open a way and He'll provide the means, and all of those of you who have endured to the end and will endure to the end, you have great hope and the promise of God Who cannot lie. When you come to the last moments of the weakness of your life in the flesh:
- God is still there with you
- God is still there helping you
- God will see you through to the end
Then you will be raised, when Christ returns, to eternal life. That's why this verse is so profound. In that you can also rejoice in this part of the joy, that if you cross the finish line before the Tribulation comes, God has spared you a great deal.
I'm getting older and older myself. I don't know how long I'm going to live. Whatever, it doesn't make any difference how long there is because we live day-by-day and trust in God, walk in faith, believe in hope, and live in love, and that's how we conduct our lives and that's how we are perfected. Let every trial become something, which will be a building block.
Verse 14: "But I myself am also persuaded concerning you, my brethren, that you are full of goodness… [you have the Holy Spirit, you have the laws of God written in your heart and mind] …and are being filled with all knowledge…" All the knowledge that God can give you, and today we live in a time with more knowledge than when he wrote this.
"…and are able to admonish one another" (v 14). In other words he is saying, 'Look you're able to help and encourage one another without me being there on a continuous basis.'
Verse 15: "So then, I have more boldly written to you, brethren, in part as a way of reminding you, because of the grace that was given to me by God, in order that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ unto the Gentiles to perform the Holy service of teaching the Gospel of God; so that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit" (vs 15-16).
So, in a sense we become a sacrifice. Not only did Christ give His life by the power of God the Father, we give our lives by the power of God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Romans 12:1: "I exhort you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, Holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service."
As we grow, as we overcome, as we put away the works of the flesh, develop the mind of Christ; we are a living sacrifice.
Verse 2: "Do not conform yourselves to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…" That's what God wants, having the laws and commandments of God written in our hearts and in our minds.
"…in order that you may prove what is well-pleasing and good, and the perfect will of God" (v 2). That's how you are perfected with eternal perfection.
This is what becomes important for us to understand: your sins have been purged or forgiven forever!That's how you come to the point in your life and mind—with God's Spirit and with God's Word—that you have no more consciousness of sin because you are not focusing on sin, you are focusing on the spiritual things. As the Proverb says, 'As a man thinks in his heart so he is.' If you have Christ in you and you have the Word of God in you, so you are!
Hebrews 10:15: "And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after He had previously said, '"This is the covenant…'" (vs 15-16). We need to understand this. This is the covenant.
We know what the covenant is that we are going to take, as far as the Passover is concerned and the renewing of the New Covenant every year on the Passover. This is a covenant; this is the purpose; this is the goal, contrary to the lawless Christianity of Sunday-keepers who say there is no law to keep!
Someone sent me a book, which is quite interesting. It's called Free At Last; by Larry Huch. I don't necessarily recommend that you buy the book because it falls in line with the kind of writing that Alan Knight spoke of in his book Primitive Christianity in Crisis. But he says, 'Break the chain of the family curse,' which all sounds good and so forth. He said that families are cursed to the third and fourth generation, which is true. But in that whole book he does not quote the second commandment where it says:
You shall not make unto yourself any graven image of any likeness which is in heaven above, that is in the earth beneath, or the water under the earth, and you shall not bow yourself down to them to serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of those that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of those that love me and keep my commandments."
A lot of these Protestant ministers, because they can't preach the whole Truth, preach enough of it to help people a little bit. The reason that the curse comes is because of sin, but they never say what sin is!
Here is why it is important that this be defined that way, v 16: "'This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days'… [that means, obviously, referring to the days of the ministry of Christ and His resurrection] …says the Lord. 'I will give My Laws into their hearts, and I will inscribe them in their minds.'"
- this is the process of conversion
- this is what gives you fellowship with God
- This is what gives you the mind of Christ.
- this is how you can overcome.
- Is the New Testament also the Law of God? Yes it is! It surely is!
- Did not Jesus in Matt. 5, 6 and 7 show how to apply the laws of God in the full spiritual application? Yes, He did!
- Did not everything He did and taught and preached all based on the laws of God?
So therefore, the whole New Testament is considered part of the Law of God.
That's why John starts out his Gospel, 'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.' That's to substantiate that when you read in the prophets where it says, 'And the Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel saying… or to Isaiah… or to Jeremiah…' that you know Who it was that came, Who spoke it. This is what God wants, that's why we have been given the minds that we have.
Let's understand something: When people are born into the world and have the mind and the spirit of man in them—which all human beings do so they can have intellect and so forth—God created that mind to receive His Spirit. In a sense, we can say that all of those who are carnal-minded are half-minded, because they don't have the Spirit of God. That doesn't mean they're dimwits, they may be very smart and intelligent. That's not the point. The point is:
- God made you to receive His Spirit
- God created you for that purpose
- God created you to walk in His ways and in His laws and have it written in your heart and in your mind so that as you think in your heart so you are
That's a profound thing! I mean you talk about a wonderful process.
Now then, He gives a promise, v 17: "And their sins and lawlessness I will not remember ever again." Isn't that something?
Let's see where all of this begins as far as with the Law of God and what God requires. Here's the foundation of it, this is how we are to live. This has to be the central function, the desire of our heart and mind, which only you can do, and only God can give you the power and the means to do so.
Matthew 22:34: "But after the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they came togetherbefore Him. And one of them, a doctor of the law…" (vs 34-35).
Do we have lots of lawyers today? Watch any news channel. Like someone said, 'Whenever a lawyer comes in and gets involved, you're in trouble.' He was a lawyer and a lawyer is always looking to trip you up, so was this lawyer.
"…questioned Him, tempting Him, and saying…" (v 35). For all of you who believe that Christ abolished the Law, listen! If you believe that you are contrary to God, you are contrary to what Jesus is doing, and you are not a Christian. You may profess, but you are not a Christian! There is a vast difference!
Notice, he came to Him saying, v 36: "''Master, which commandment is the great commandment in the Law?' And Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind'" (vs 36-37). No reservations.
That's why we have to walk in faith, believe in hope and live in love, because that's how we operate. This is the whole purpose of what Paul is writing about there in Heb. 10! This is part of the Law of God. It's to be written in our heart and our mind.
Verse 38: "This is the first and greatest commandment; and the second one is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (vs 38-40).
In other words, the love of God and the love of neighbor supports all of the rest of the laws and commandments of God. They are all done for that reason and that purpose. This is what we are to have written in our heart and in our mind. When a trial and temptation comes, we can overcome with the Word of God, with the power of His Spirit. If Satan comes along to tempt us, we can do as Jesus said, 'Get you behind Me, Satan.' That way then, instead of fellowshipping with the world and Satan the devil, we fellowship with God. Is God pleased with that? Of course, He is! That's the whole purpose and reason.
Isn't that something? That's why I made the statement that your sins are purged forever. He 'removes our sins as far as the east is from the west' (Psa. 103). They are purged forever. He won't remember them ever again.
Hebrews 10:18: "Now, where remission of these is, it is no longer necessary to offer sacrifices for sin." This concludes the whole section from Heb. 9:1. This is an ending statement for that whole section, and it's all connected together. What does this do for us?
Verse 19: "Therefore, brethren, having confidence [boldness]… [Why?] …to enter into the true Holiest by the blood of Jesus…. [that's something] …by a new and living way, which He consecrated for us through the veil (that is, His flesh)" (vs 19-20).
This is what Christ has done. Let's look at the confidence. In other words, God has given you authority or authorized you to have direct access to Him through Jesus Christ. Remember what Jesus said, He said, 'Don't pray to Me that I ask the Father; you ask the Father for He loves you.'
If there is any one thing that we need to get through the book of Hebrews it is this: God has given us the privilege of fellowship with Him through prayer and His Word and His Holy Spirit in belief and hope and love to have fellowship with Him as a prelude to the resurrection!
The life that we have from conception to birth is one level of existence. Now, in this level of existence—after birth, and then life and conversion and death—when we are resurrected it's going to be a whole new way. Just like a baby in the womb is fed and nourished by the mother, so likewise, through the Holy Spirit of God, we are fed and nourished to develop the spiritual character. God is there through Christ to do everything for us, but we have to apply ourselves.
- we have to be zealous
- we have to be renewed
- we have to be changed
Let's look at some things that we can have confidence in, boldness in, by the blood of Christ. Isn't it interesting:
- v 5 says "body"
- v 19 says "…the blood of Jesus"
When we prepare for the Passover, what did Jesus say? He said, 'Truly, truly, I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.' See how this goes right back to what Jesus taught: the body and the blood! Goes right back to the New Covenant. He gave them the bread and said, 'This is My body which is broken for you' and He gave them the wine and said, 'This is the New Covenant in My blood.' and we overcome.
If you have The Christian Passover book, be sure and read the chapter there The Meaning of the Blood of Jesus Christ. We need to understand, brethren, that we need the blood of Christ every day not only for the forgiveness of sins, but also for the confidence and for the power that God has given to us through the blood of Christ and that is namely beginning with authorization to have boldness to come before the throne of God into the Holy of Holies. God knows everything! He has called us knowing every fault and difficulty and sin that we have:
- to have mercy on every one of us
- to give us of His grace
- to give us of His Spirit
- to give us of His power so that we come to Him
We're to have the Word of God, His laws written in our heart and mind.
Hebrews 4:12: "For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of both soul and spirit, and of both the joints and the marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart."
By the Word of God—through the power of the Holy Spirit of God, through the blood of Jesus Christ—you are able to have those sins purged from within so that you no longer have consciousness of sin. You will be conscious of sin when you sin because the Word of God and the Spirit of God in you will convict you of it, and that is done so that you can repent.
Verse 13: "And there is not a created thing that is not manifest in His sight…" In other words, you can never fool God at any time.
I saw on the news that they raided a Catholic parish and in the back room the priest was growing marijuana, and he and a fellow parishioner were selling it. How many times have you heard of 'religious' leaders who have committed adultery, pedophilia, lying, cheating, stealing and all of this sort of thing, and yet, in the very Bible that sits in their pulpit, 'there isn't anything that isn't manifested in His sight' and He knows it.
Verse 14: "Having, therefore, a great High Priest, Who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we should hold fast the confession of our faith. For we do not have a High Priest Who cannot empathize with our weaknesses, but One Who was tempted in all things according to the likeness of our own temptations; yet, He was without sin" (vs 14-15). So that we can always come to Christ, always come to the Father.
Verse 16: "Therefore, we should come with boldness to the throne of grace… [which is where God the Father sits and Christ is at the right hand] …so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (vs 14-16).
When is that time of need? Always!
All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version
Scriptural References
- Hebrews 10:1, 11, 2
- Hebrews 9:24-28
- Hebrews 10:2-4, 12
- Psalm 16:7-11
- Psalm 17:5-7
- Psalm 118:16-21
- Psalm 110:1-4
- Hebrews 1:1-3
- Hebrews 10:13-14
- John 17:17
- Romans 15:13-16
- Romans 12:1-2
- Hebrews 10:15-17
- Matthew 22: 34-40
- Hebrews 10:18-20
- Hebrews 4:12-16
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Hebrews 10:5-10
- Leviticus 11
- Hebrews 7; 8
- 1 Corinthians 10:13
- Hebrews 3; 1:12
- Matthew 5-7
- Psalm 103
Also referenced:
Sermon Series: Scripturalism vs Judaism
Sermons:
- The Covenant Between God the Father and Jesus Christ (Hebrews Series #27)
The Resignation
The Rest of the Story #s 1 & 2
Books:
- From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God
- The Code of Jewish Law by Ganzfried & Goldin
- New Testament and Psalms an Inclusive Version
- Free at Last by Larry Huch
- Primitive Christianity in Crisis by Alan Knight
- The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
FRC/jea
Transcribed: 09/23/07
Formatted/Corrected: bo—January/2017
