Perfect salvation

[0:00] And that's the sort of way this passage is going. So here's my plan. Number one was a finished sacrifice.! What's that thing called there?

[0:39] It's the tent. And the tent, you've got what it became. Excellent. The tabernacle, I think, is where we're going with that. Okay.

[0:50] And in the tabernacle, there it is. There's the lovely model of it down there. They had sacrifices. And the sacrifices were there to take away what?

[1:01] To take away what? This is sort of revision. The sacrifices were there to take away what? Let's try up here. Sins. Thank you. Sins.

[1:12] And actually, we could add another thing to that. But it's a bit more difficult. Actually, uncleanness is mentioned as well. Sin and uncleanness. Good. Right. We're up and running.

[1:23] A little round of applause for that. Thank you. Good. Okay. Right. So I'll try to do this quickly. What was sacrificed? What was sacrificed? Quick as you like. What was sacrificed?

[1:36] Animals. Yeah. Bulls go straight. Right. That one does it. Yeah. Well done. Good. Okay. So there's a sheep being sacrificed. How was it sacrificed? What did they do to it?

[1:47] What did they do? Everybody knows this. But yeah. Go on. Go on. Yes. Quick. No. No. How did they sacrifice it? What did they do to the animal? They stroke it. What did they do?

[2:01] I couldn't hear. Burnt it. Yeah. What did they do before they burnt it? It is something to do with blood.

[2:15] But this is a very obvious thing. Before they burn it. Before they killed it. Right. By killing and turning it into smoke. So there's the poor old sheep there.

[2:26] And it gets killed. And it gets offered up and turned into smoke. And up it goes. And as it were, God notices, smells this and knows that it's happened. And oh dear.

[2:39] I've put the answer in there as well. What did they use for powerful sprinkling? Pretend you didn't see the answer. What did they sprinkle? Yes. Oh, you're so good. I was around. Of course. Yeah. Well done.

[2:50] They sprinkle the blood. And did it work? In the Old Testament, killing animals to get rid of sin, get rid of uncleanness. Did it work?

[3:01] Did it work? Well done. No. A round of applause for that. It didn't work. Yeah. It looked as though it was going to do that. That's what it said on the tin. As it were.

[3:12] This will take away sin and uncleanness. But it didn't do it. Because the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin. It teaches us that without the shedding of blood, there is no taking away of sin.

[3:24] But the blood of bulls and goats couldn't do it. And how do we know that it didn't work? It's a little bit more tricky, this one. I'll just give people a minute to think about it.

[3:35] How can we know that it didn't work? How do we know that it didn't work? Want to try?

[3:52] That's good. Because the priest had to repeat it each year. And, yeah. What were you going to say? Say, yeah.

[4:03] Yeah. I thought I'd just share it around. I know you were first. But how do we know? Because they had to do it so many times. So it didn't work. If it had really worked, it would have been done and dusted and finished. Okay.

[4:15] But my heading here is a finished sacrifice. So in Moses and the Old Testament and the tabernacle, there's the poor old sheep that gets its blood shed and then turned into smoke.

[4:26] And they had to do that thousands and thousands and thousands of times. And it still didn't work. But Jesus did this. So this is where my heading is going. A finished sacrifice.

[4:36] How or when or what did Jesus do to make a sacrifice? It's not a difficult question. How or what or when, what did Jesus do to make a sacrifice?

[4:49] Christian? Thank you very much. Yes. Well done. He offered himself. He offered himself.

[5:00] So he didn't take another sheep and offer that. He offered himself. His own body. He offered himself on the cross.

[5:11] And how many times did he have to do that? How many times did he have to do that? How many times did Jesus have to keep on offering himself?

[5:21] Okay. You're going to say once? What are you going to say? What are you going to say once? Were you going to say anything? You're going to say once. Okay. Who else had their hand up?

[5:35] Christian? You think once? You think once as well. Well done. Okay. Round of applause for everybody. Once. Because he did such a brilliant job that it didn't need doing again.

[5:48] He did one sacrifice. And it was such a good sacrifice and such a complete sacrifice. He didn't need to add anything to it. He didn't have to do it again. It was all done.

[5:58] And we are so pleased. Christian people are so pleased because he did it all. Nothing has to be added. We don't have to come back and say, oh, it doesn't work for me today because I need to do something else.

[6:10] It's all done. And when Christ was on the cross, he shouted out, it is finished. And that's what it is, a finished sacrifice. That's what makes it so brilliant. Do I have an amen?

[6:21] Amen. Yeah. Okay. He did it once. It cannot be repeated. So if you go to a church which says, we will today repeat the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

[6:33] You say, it doesn't need repeating. It's already been done. I can remember it and look back on it. I'm not going to repeat it. It did what it was supposed to do.

[6:43] It did what it said on the tin. What it said on the tin was, it takes away sin and uncleanness. And Jesus did it. Amen. So there we are.

[6:55] And his blood sprinkles our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God. And that's the gospel. That was number one. A finished sacrifice.

[7:07] And I put amazing because it is amazing, isn't it? Absolutely brilliant. Amazing grace. What a wonderful redemption we have. He saves us to the uttermost.

[7:18] My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to his cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul.

[7:29] Okay. Oh, dear. All right. Yeah, I thought we'd sing something. Let's sing about that before we go on. So this is a song which says, What offering shall we give or what atonement bring to God by whom alone we live, high heaven's eternal king.

[7:45] For all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain could never give the conscience peace or wash away its stain. So it's a fairly, what shall I say?

[8:00] It's a heavenly footstool. So the psalm that we read at the beginning says this. It says, The Lord has sworn you are a priest forever in the style of Melchizedek. And then it says, The Lord says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

[8:18] Right. Now then, boys and girls, You're with this. Just look at this bit. So that sentence says, The Lord says to my Lord, Whoever this person is, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

[8:33] So there's the enemies, And there's the foot resting on top of them. So, question. Where is this person? The Lord said to my Lord, Where is he?

[8:46] The answer's up there. Where is this person, This Lord person? Where is he?

[9:06] Do you want to have a go? In heaven is right. So that deserves a round of applause. Yeah. And specifically, Where in heaven?

[9:17] So I think you had a hand up. At the right hand, At God's right hand. Good. Right. Well done. And what is he doing? Now this is a little bit, We have to be a little bit more careful.

[9:28] What is he doing? Because I'm looking at that word, Until. Until. So if you're at the bus stop, Until the bus comes, What are you doing?

[9:42] Until the bus comes. So we're doing something, Until something happens. Yeah. Oh, that's brilliant. Yeah. He's waiting.

[9:55] He's waiting. He's waiting. And what is he waiting for? He's waiting until something. What is he waiting for? Waiting until something.

[10:09] Oh, no hands at all. Oh, dear. Waiting until something. Until. That's correct.

[10:27] That was not what I was aiming for from the sentence, But you deserve a round of applause for that anyway. Yeah. That's a good one. Yeah. Waiting until. Until.

[10:39] Waiting until. Yeah.

[10:51] That's good. Waiting until. Waiting until. Waiting until all your enemies are made a footstool for your feet. Because the enemies are down there. Saying, Oh, dear.

[11:01] Oh, we. We give in to you. And. It's like. Jesus puts his foot on them. Because. He's beaten them. And that's what is waiting until that's happening.

[11:12] Until. The total humiliating defeat of all his enemies. It hasn't happened yet. Here. We wait for that to happen. He waits for that to happen. In a sense, he's beaten all his enemies on the cross.

[11:24] But we don't yet see all his enemies put under his feet. We're waiting too. Do we see all things under his feet at the moment? I think I've given away the answer already.

[11:36] Do we see all things under his feet at the moment? No, we don't. I hope I put no. Oh, do we see all things.

[11:46] The defeat of evil. The defeat of death. The total holiness of God's people. No, we don't. And that is why the Christian life includes waiting.

[11:58] Because it doesn't all happen here and now. And waiting involves faith. Like if you're waiting for the bus. You have to trust the bus company. They say it's coming along.

[12:09] Or the sign says it's coming along in five minutes. You have to trust and wait. And if you lose faith in the bus company. You'd probably say, oh, I'm going to walk anyway.

[12:21] And then the bus comes along and then you miss it. But faith and waiting and hoping that the bus will come are all tied up together. So this is a heavenly footstool.

[12:33] And in the Christian life, we are waiting in hope. So we don't yet see everybody healed. That will happen. But we are waiting for that. We don't see death and sickness totally defeated at the moment.

[12:47] We don't yet see total justice. So things that are evil happen. And they don't necessarily get punished. They don't necessarily get found out. But one day they will.

[12:59] But not necessarily yet. And currently we run at a loss. Currently things, we lose things. We lose friends.

[13:10] We lose people. People go to be with the Lord. Perhaps we lose health. We lose. And the Lord will make it all up.

[13:22] But not necessarily yet. And we have to wait for those rewards. We have to wait for him to put everything right. And while we're waiting, we're under his fatherly discipline.

[13:34] And it says that sort of thing in Hebrews, doesn't it? Endure hardship as discipline. God is treating you as sons. No, discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful.

[13:45] Later on it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who are being trained by it. So we're living in a period of waiting until everything is put into that place.

[14:01] Until all his enemies are put under his feet. So I just want to stop and say, on the day when all his enemies are put under his feet, where will you be?

[14:14] So one day all his enemies will be put under his feet. And they might be vicious enemies or they might be just very polite enemies who just haven't bothered with Jesus.

[14:25] And haven't bothered to acknowledge him as their king now. And where will you be? And I want to encourage everybody in this room and everybody watching in whatever method to make sure they're on the side of the king now.

[14:43] To bow to him now. Before that day when everybody will have to bow to him under compulsion. To be on the right side of Jesus now.

[14:54] You won't have forever to decide that. Each of us has a limited amount of time to decide whose side we're going to be on. And because one day all his enemies will be put under his feet.

[15:11] Now is the time to say, I don't want to be his enemy. I don't want to be his enemy. I want to be in, I want to be his child. I want to be in his family.

[15:24] So whose side would you be on when the waiting is over? So that was a footstool. A heavenly footstool. Right, boys and girls, here we are. Still a final covenant.

[15:35] Right, you're going to help me with this please. Really appreciate it if you could. A covenant is a relationship. It's usually written out. It binds people together. That's what a covenant does. And there was a covenant with Moses.

[15:49] So my question is, where was the covenant written? There was a written, there were words to do with the covenant, the old covenant, and they were written on something particular.

[16:08] Where was the old covenant written? It was done through Moses, and it was written somewhere in particular, somewhere unusual. Bethany.

[16:19] On tablets, what like little paracetamol tablets? What sort of tablets? Stone tablets. Yeah, well done. So it was written on the two tablets.

[16:34] I don't know what they looked like. I guess they might have been quite big like that. I always assumed that. Written on two tablets of stone. So it must have been hard work chiseling those in there, or written by the finger of God into the stone.

[16:47] Not easy to write on stone. But it was written on stone. What was written? On those two stone tablets, what was written? What was written?

[17:00] Well done. The ten words. Actually, they're called ten words rather than ten commandments. Now then. In the final covenant, because that was the F, we had, what did we have?

[17:14] Finished sacrifice, heavenly footstool, final covenant. Where is the final covenant written? So we had it read out to us twice this morning. Where is the final covenant written?

[17:30] Where is the final? Sorry, was there an answer? No? Yeah. Want to have a try? That is a good answer. So that deserves a round of applause.

[17:42] But it is, I'm looking for another answer as well. The old covenant was written on tables of stone. The new covenant. And if you want to look it up, or if mum and dad want, or whoever want to point it out to them, it's in Hebrews 10 verse 16.

[18:09] I will write my laws where? What three goes? Right, do you want to have a go?

[18:23] In our minds. Hold that thought. What were you going to say? On our hearts. Hold that thought. What was Christian going to say? In our hearts.

[18:33] And what were you going to say? Okay, they're all right. Yeah, well done. It's written on our hearts and in our minds.

[18:44] I know we say hearts and minds are different things. We talk about, you know, head and heart. The Bible doesn't do it like that. The Bible says we have one internal driving, scheming core of our beings.

[19:00] And you can call that the heart. You can call it the mind. It doesn't make the sort of difference that we do. But right there in the center of us, deep down, that's where the new covenant is written.

[19:13] And what difference do you think that makes? So this is a more theological question. So boys and girls, what difference do you think it makes if people either have the things written on stone, the effect of that, or written on their hearts?

[19:32] Do you think that's just the same, or do you think there's going to be a difference for the people? Do you write it on stone or if you write it on the heart?

[19:44] Will there be any difference for people? What do you think? Okay. Okay.

[19:56] You think that if it's on stone, you can ignore it, but if it's in your heart, you would obey it. Is that right? Okay. Hold that thought. What do you think? You would care about it. Oh, yeah.

[20:07] That's good. If you, if you, yeah. Okay. Let's just hear Peter. Be with us all the time.

[20:18] Yeah. This wouldn't be something you just forget. Be there all the time. Those are all good answers. So well done. It changes us from the inside. The old covenant is typically external, but the new covenant is characteristically internal.

[20:36] It's what goes on inside us. And the other thing that is said about the final covenant is it includes the forgiveness of sins. The effective, powerful forgiveness of sins.

[20:49] So that was the final covenant. And those were the three things. So thank you, boys and girls. Now, just hold these thoughts and you can test mum or dad or whoever's looking after you today and see whether they can remember.

[21:01] Number one was a finished sacrifice. And number two, I've had to look because I haven't remembered myself, was a heavenly footstool. And number three was a final covenant.

[21:15] And they all had F. Finished, footstool, and final. Okay. So you hang on to those thoughts. And I'm just going to take this a little bit further.

[21:26] For how this ought to affect us if we're Christian people. Because perish the thought that we should know all about this, but it shouldn't change us.

[21:37] Perish the thought that we should know all about this, but it shouldn't change us. And the Bible here, it's got a therefore. It's in verse 19.

[21:49] Therefore. Because of this, it just follows. As night follows day. Therefore, this is how it affects us as Christian people.

[22:00] And I've got four things that, four effects, if you like, four things that should change. And I think they're all very relevant to us. So, number one, change of the heart and mind.

[22:13] Change of the heart and mind. So this means, brothers and sisters, that when it says in Hebrews 4, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword.

[22:25] It penetrates even through the dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. That is true of God's word.

[22:38] If we are really encountering it, it goes right down to our thoughts and attitudes, to our, what did it say? Our, lost it.

[22:51] To the dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. So, as we go on in the Christian life, let's not be afraid of letting God's word go deep and looking at our motives and our thoughts.

[23:07] And it won't be a very particularly pleasant experience because we realize that many of our motives are mixed and we need to be repenting. We need to be letting the word of God touch us deep within.

[23:22] Cleanse me and change me deep down. And we should be prepared to pray that. I don't say it's an easy prayer to pray. And I don't say that that will be a painless experience.

[23:35] But it is the right thing. That God's word, if it's written on our hearts and minds, we should let God's word go right down into our motivations, into our characteristic actions and our reactions.

[23:48] Why did I react that way? What was going on in me to make me react that way? To ask those questions and to let God's word judge and correct and change us deep down.

[24:01] So, that's one thing. Change of heart and mind. And I commend that thought to all of us. Number two. So, I'm picking this up from Hebrews chapter 10 where it says, Therefore, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

[24:27] He's saying, Therefore, let us draw near to God. So, this is number two. Change. Change. Because we are regularly drawing near to God.

[24:50] Therefore, let us draw near to God. The blood enables us to come near to God. It says, Therefore, let's do that. Let's be people who draw near to God.

[25:02] So, the old tabernacle. There was the most holy place which hardly anybody could go into and only in extreme difficulty. And we are able to come to the most holy place.

[25:17] The holiest place of all. That's the privilege of a Christian. It's a pretty amazing privilege, isn't it? That we can draw near to God.

[25:27] Right there. In verse 19 it says, Let us enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus. Verse 20 says, A new and living way through the curtain.

[25:42] We enter through the curtain. Verse 23 says, No, I don't think I mean 23. Do I mean 23? No, that's the wrong verse. But I want to say, Brothers and sisters, let's do that.

[25:58] Brothers and sisters, let's not be content if we have a pattern where we are never drawing near to God. What's the point of being a Christian if we never draw near to God?

[26:13] What's the point of being a Christian if we're so busy that we can't draw near to God? What's the point of having our Bibles if we never read them? What's the point of having the openness to pray if we never actually pray?

[26:28] Or the prayers we pray are just, you know, got three minutes, da, da, da, da, that's it. I'm saying, Brothers and sisters, let's draw near to God.

[26:40] Let's make that something that we earnestly seek. Am I communing with God? And in Christian speak, there's this thing called the quiet time.

[26:55] In English Christian speak, I don't know what it is in other languages, the quiet time, meaning not just a time to be quiet, but a time to draw near to God. And draw near to God, not in a mysterious way, but by reading the Bible and by praying.

[27:09] And we're not saved by having a quiet time, but what's the point of being a Christian if we don't draw near to God? And I want to say that on the basis of all that we've looked at, let's draw near to God.

[27:26] And I don't really mind whether you do this in the morning or in the evening or at lunchtime or in the afternoon or whatever, or how you do it when the kids are asleep or when you tell the kids to go into a corner while you're going to pray to God and don't disturb me, please, because this is important.

[27:42] We all do that in different ways, but let us draw near to God. And how can we expect to survive as Christians if we don't pray?

[27:56] How can we expect to thrive as Christians if we don't pray? And how can we expect to bless anybody else if we don't pray?

[28:09] So, this is number two, point of change. Drawing near to God. Being regularly in personal touch with God.

[28:20] Because that's what this makes possible. Number three. Oh, no, I was just going to say we become like what we worship. And if we're regularly worshipping God, He will change us to become more like Him.

[28:35] Not perfectly, but genuinely. Number three. Here's another change. A change to eternal perspective. The technical word for looking at the last things is called eschatology.

[28:49] But it just means looking forward to the end of all things. It's like it says when He makes all His enemies a footstool to His feet. We can disagree over the details, but the principle of it is absolutely essential.

[29:04] And in here, it says things like this. 1023. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess. So there is a hope. We are not there yet.

[29:18] We are waiting. And the hope is that one day the bus will turn up. It will. One day, Jesus will come back and He'll change everything.

[29:29] Everything will be put right. Everything that was wrong will be judged. Everything that was amiss will be corrected. Everything that was good and right will be rewarded and amplified and glorified.

[29:42] And we live in that eternal perspective. We fled to take hold of the hope which is an anchor for the soul. And if we try and find our anchor in this life, we shall be sorely disappointed.

[29:57] It's not so easy, is it? But the anchor for our souls is in the world to come. If we try to anchor our souls in this life, we'll be disappointed. The hope is an anchor for the soul.

[30:10] And that means that that's the day that will make everything make sense. Not necessarily these days. A little bit like the way you study for an exam and you go through all sorts of disciplines and have to deny yourself things and you could be out running around playing football but actually you have to be there with your books and that sort of thing.

[30:35] and you go through all the disciplines of that and all the losses of that because on the final day, the day when you get the exam results, that will make sense of it. And this is how we live the Christian life.

[30:49] There are losses and crosses which we're prepared to accept because the last day will make sense of everything. And we need to have that eternal perspective.

[31:00] Be prepared to run at a loss in this present age because the last day will make it all right. And we mustn't make this world our dream. I didn't think I knew anybody who'd been on cruises but Colleen did, didn't she?

[31:21] She did, didn't she? She went on cruises. Maybe the people here have been on cruises. But I just take this as an example of something that people might say.

[31:31] I've saved and saved to go on a world cruise, go somewhere different next year. And this is the thing that's going to make my life worthwhile and that's bound to disappoint.

[31:43] I mean, have a lovely cruise but please don't base our lives on that. Don't make the dream things in this world. So that was the third thing. An eternal perspective, a hope, and the fourth thing is that this is a change.

[31:59] It says in verse 23, let us hold to the hope and verse 24, let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching.

[32:18] So because the day is approaching, he says, don't sort of retract into your little silo but think of other people.

[32:30] This is, because he died on the cross, think of all the other people for whom he died and this is a change where we think about benefiting one another and togetherness and he says, let's consider one another.

[32:44] Let's consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good works. how can I help this person? How can I pray for that person? How can I encourage this person?

[32:55] Was somebody absent and I want to go and chase them and just ask how they are? We have to think together because Christ died for us, we think of one another.

[33:06] Let's consider one another and let's consider how we can encourage one another, how we can spur one another on to love and good works and he says and don't forsake meeting together.

[33:22] Meeting together is such a precious thing. We're trying to make the best of a difficult situation so it's so good to see people here this morning and I'm sure there are people watching at home as best they can but the togetherness is really, really important and we want to encourage one another to come together and that is so important.

[33:47] You know, please don't encourage people not to come. That would be a terrible thing to do. Encourage us to come and it tells us, you know, that it's not all about me, is it?

[34:03] It's not all about me. It's not all about my ease and comfort. It's not all about me and my problems and my sufferings. It's about considering one another. How can I encourage my brothers and sisters because they matter?

[34:19] How can I spur them on to love and good works? Encouraging one another to love with all that that means. Encouraging one another to service. Encouraging one another to turning up.

[34:35] Not absenting ourselves. I'm just reading what it says in the text. Christ. So there's four things which I think are really important which follow on from this how we shall develop and grow and progress as Christians.

[34:50] So, can you remember boys and girls what the first one was? Yeah, well read. A finished sacrifice.

[35:01] And number two was a heavenly footstool and number three was well done a final covenant and then living it. So we said heart and mind so God's work in our hearts and minds.

[35:16] Drawing into the presence of God. having an eternal perspective on life because we have a hope ahead of us and changing from the thought that it's just about I and me to it's about us and it's about one another.

[35:31] And we're going to stop doing Hebrews for a little while but I'm going to say let the impact and power of what he has done so wonderfully for us have its deep impact within us and the sort of people that we are becoming.

[35:50] Amen.